19-Year-Old Struggling To Recover After Being Shot In Head Aboard San Francisco Muni Train
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The mother of a teenager who survived a gunshot to the head while on board a San Francisco Muni train says her son will never be the same, and is now blind in one eye.
19-year-old Tommy Clayton has had to have part of his skull removed because of swelling of the brain.
His mother, Shamika Thomas, said on the day he was shot he was supposed to start a new job the next day. Now, her son can't walk on his own and will need months of therapy.
Every day for the last two weeks Thomas has traveled from Vallejo to San Francisco to be by her son's side. "It's just hard. It's really, really hard," she said.
Doctors saved Clayton's life after he was shot in the head, but they could not save his eyesight in one eye.
"Every time I'm in the room with him, he's like, 'Mom, he didn't even know me, why did he shoot me?' I said, 'son I can't explain, this world is crazy."
Clayton had just gotten hired the San Francisco Unified School District to look after elementary school kids. He was asleep on the T-Third Muni train on his way home, when a man who'd harassed a female passenger chose him as his next target.
According to Thomas, the stranger rammed into her son, who then took a swing at him. That's when the shooter pulled out a gun and fired one shot.
Days later, police arrested 18-year-old Sylvester Taylor for attempted murder and found the .40 caliber gun used in the shooting.
Thomas said police asked the suspect if he knew Clayton. "He said, 'No I never met him and I didn't know him. Just take me to jail.'"
Clayton now requires 24-hour, 7-days-a-week care and will not leaving hospital for weeks. He will also need to have second surgery in a few months.
His family has set up a GoFundMe page to help offset the thousands of dollars in medical costs he is incurring.
