CHICAGO (CBS) — A South Chicago man had just dropped his children off at school and was about to go for coffee when he was shot during an attempted robbery.
The man, Phillip Radford, survived, but he is paralyzed from the shooting and now has no use of his legs. And this all happened while he was just going through his daily morning routine that he had maintained for years.
His life now changed forever, Radford slowly learns to adapt.
“I thought I was going to die because I was bleeding a lot,” he said.
Radford said he is now paralyzed after being shot in the back about two weeks ago. He spoke to CBS News Chicago from the hospital.
“I literally wanted to go get coffee and tried to cross the street and he started shooting at me,” he said. “When the bullet hit me, it completely affected my body.”
Radford had just dropped off his twins at school, and just before 9 a.m. he went for coffee near 91st Street and Exchange Avenue. The 32-year-old said he believed the gunman, who looked young, tried to rob him and then suddenly started shooting.
‘Look what you’ve done. You damaged me forever,” Radford said. “I have to be strong for my children, so there’s a lot going through my mind right now.”
Margaret Kessler is Radford’s long-time fiancée.
“When he said he was at the children’s school, I thought, maybe my kid, you know?” Kessler said.
Kessler started an online fundraiser to help with hospital bills and a future of unknown costs.
“He didn’t even have his wallet on him at the time,” Kessler said. “I feel so alone right now.”
Kessler said detectives believe they know who is responsible for the shooting, but it’s a matter of finding him. No arrests had been made as of Thursday evening.
Charlie de Mar
