Mike Hollins walking again after being shot at UVA, athlete’s sister says
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WAFB) - A college football player hospitalized in the ICU for a gunshot wound is walking just days after a bullet tore through his body, family members say.
“He’s walking,” said Ebony Hollins-Allen through tears. “Of course, with assistance with his walker, but he’s walking. He’s walking.”
Hollins-Allen says it is no less than a miracle that her brother, Mike Hollins, is already on the road to recovery after grueling days in the hospital and two surgeries.
She sat down with a WAFB-TV crew in Charlottesville, Virginia for the first time Wednesday, Nov. 16. to speak about her brother’s resiliency and to thank community members in that city and in Baton Rouge, her brother’s hometown, who prayed he would heal quickly.
“When we told Michael that he had so much support he was taken aback,” said Hollins-Allen. “So many people are praying for my brother and for my family that it just seems like this burden isn’t as heavy as it should be.”
A spokesman for University Hospital said their patient was in fair condition Wednesday, Nov. 16. Family members identified the patient as Hollins. He’d been brought into the emergency room days earlier in critical condition.
“I didn’t know what kind of condition he was going to be in. And even seeing him like that, I didn’t want to see him like that. It broke my heart.” said Hollins-Allen. “It was breathtaking. I’ve seen him injured. He’s a football player. He’s played sports for a very long time. But I have never seen him in that type of condition.”
Hollins was among a group of students from the University of Virginia (UVA) returning to campus Sunday, Nov. 13, when a gunman shot several people on a bus in a campus parking lot.
Hollins and one other student survived their injuries and were taken to the hospital.
That other student has since been sent home; information provided by University Hospital suggests.
UVA athletics leaders said the three other shooting victims all died. All three were student-athletes on the school’s football team along with Hollins.
“When we had to break the news [about the deaths of his teammates], he was devastated. As we all are. The whole nation is watching, and we’re all devastated,” said Hollins-Allen.
While doctors have not provided a timeline on when Hollins could leave the hospital, Hollins-Allen called her brother’s progress since Sunday remarkable and says she hopes it is an indication of what lies ahead.
“Everybody is amazed at how much and how fast he is progressing. And I believe it is because he is determined,” she said. “His progress in his recovery is so rapid at this point, that, you know, it could be soon, hopefully soon. But we’re going to be here as long as we need to, as long as his recovery takes. We’re going to be here.”
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