STOCKTON, Calif. — A week and a half after 5-year-old King Gammage and two others were hurt in a Stockton shooting, the boy is back home and making progress.
What happened to him is a nightmare that replays in his mother's head. His injuries from the triple shooting left him learning how to walk again.
"I was just thinking to myself like... Lord don't take my baby, don't take my baby," said his mother Aakielah Johnson. "Life as we knew it before, my son is a football player and as of now, he can't play football."
Johnson described the days since the shooting as a rollercoaster.
Gammage was waiting in a car with his dad near California and Park Street in Stockton on Dec. 16 when the unimaginable happened.
"Shots were fired. One of the shots went through the car and hit my son in the lower portion of the body," said Johnson. "I got the phone call and I started to pray. I was crying and driving at the same time."
Johnson says she beat the ambulance to the hospital and only began to feel a slight sense of relief when medics unloaded her son slowly with no sirens. Now begins the grueling road to recovery.
"My healthy kid is on all types of medications I have never even heard of for a 5-year-old, let alone an adult," said Johnson. "He still does wake up. He has nightmares. There are certain noises that can be made in the neighborhood just regularly outside and it triggers him."
Police haven’t made any arrests in the case in the week and a half since the shooting, but did bring out their armored surveillance truck to keep an eye on the neighborhood.
Investigators say the case is active and are asking for witnesses to come forward.
“It's really unfortunate that this person hasn't stepped up to say or claim the fact that they have attempted to murder a 5-year-old," said Johnson. "Just hold your babies tight, this is a very wicked world."
While justice is on Johnson's mind, guiding her son through recovery is a full-time job.
She and her family are raising funds through GoFundMe to cover Gammage's medical expenses.
“At 3 a.m., your son is screaming in pain," said Johnson. "(Then) to happy moments because we got to come home from the hospital and now mom is playing Madden with you because she's probably the only person who can tolerate when it's time for pain."
The simple gift of life and a little laughter through pain took on a whole new meaning for Gammage and his family this holiday season.
“I was so grateful that we were able to celebrate Christmas together because a week prior to Christmas, I didn't think we would be here," said Johnson. "He's probably the only person I've ever seen smiling in a hospital bed... Still so grateful for that smile."
Watch more from ABC10: Stockton PD's annual 'Toy Project' brings holiday joy to neighborhoods impacted by crime