ATLANTA — A Clark Atlanta University student who found herself a victim of road rage two years ago is continuing her dreams of being a fashion designer while she works to learn how to walk again.
Amari Franklin was shot as she was leaving work by a coworker and was paralyzed. She is now determined to defy the odds and walk again no matter what.
Franklin is a fashion student who has always dreamed of becoming a top designer.
"It just brings out my personality and makes me feel better about myself," Franklin said.
It was a dream almost taken from her two years ago, in April 2021; her life was changed as she drove home from work.
"As I was leaving out he was blocking the exit and I went around him," Franklin said.
A coworker, whom she never met, followed her out of their job's parking lot onto the highway. Franklin remembers making eye contact with the gunman wearing a ski mask. She said she saw a laser pointed at her car, followed by gunshots.
"All I heard was five shots," Franklin said. "My driver-side window was shattered; my passenger window was shattered."
She was hit twice. Once in the shoulder and once in her armpit.
“I honestly thought I was going to die,” Franklin said. "I prayed and asked God to keep me in that moment."
Though Franklin lived, she was instantly paralyzed by one of the bullets.
"It got lodged into my spinal cord," Franklin said. "The doctor gave me a prognosis that I have a 1% chance out of 100% to walk again."
Franklin said she struggles to understand how someone could be so angry to shoot her for going around them in the parking lot.
Recovery was long and hard, mentally and physically.
"Now my body kind of is trying to relearn how to move into limbs," She said. "And the mental part was very hard as well because I'm thinking of moving my legs, but they just won't move."
Franklin took time off from school to focus on returning to her old self while adjusting to a new way of life. She’s since returned to the classroom, where she said she’s now a stand-out student, whereas, before the ordeal, she didn’t take school as seriously.
And her dream of being a top designer has evolved.
"I want to make clothes for people with all abilities," Franklin said. "And I want it to be fashionable and accessible."
But Franklin’s biggest dream is something else -- regaining her mobility.
"I have the mindset to know that I will be able to walk again," Franklins said. "And I think the first thing I would do is really just run and run as fast as I can."
The senior is now looking forward to graduation, a moment she wants to prove everything is possible.
"To be able to walk across the stage when I graduate just to show people strength and just to show myself that I did it and I made it," Franklin said.
Meanwhile, the gunman was sentenced to 25 years.
Amari is raising money to reach that goal. The money will go towards traveling to a facility in Texas where she'll undergo intensive physical therapy that she said could one day help her walk again.