Emily Warpinski Washington, DC, United States

On May 21, 2005 my brother Sam,age 22, was shot, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down. When he was shot it changed his and my family's life forever. Not only did the bullet leave him paralyzed but now he has chronic pain and Hyper sensitivity in the right side of his body. If you grab his leg, it sends him into spasms of pain. The same night he was shot, his best friend and roommate was also shot. He died instantly. He has violent flashbacks, he said during the trial, "I see it 50 times a day ... the look on his face, clenching his teeth as he pulled the trigger.” With Sam, there just seems to be one problem after another. He has been in over 15 different hospitals, and has been so depressed at times that we worried he would try to take his own life. It is SO hard to watch someone you love and look up to hurt so much, knowing that there's virtually nothing you can do about it. I love my brother so much and if I could do anything to lessen his pain I would do it in a heartbeat.