Gun violence survivor speaks out on impact of violent weekend in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - There have now been six shootings this weekend with a total of 12 people hurt.

The first five shootings happened within just a few hours of each other and with more than half of the victims being juveniles or a mom, the events hit closer to home from one shooting survivor.

A little more than two years ago, Janae Wright was robbed at gun point and shot multiple times while trying to get into her home and put her and her unborn child’s life in danger.

After hearing about the violence within the last 24 hours, it reignites her trauma and her hunger to help those hurting families.

The gun violence in Louisville sent nine people to the hospital within several hours Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The news brought back grave memories for shooting survivor Janae Wright.

“I remember initially thinking that it was over. I thought to myself that I needed to fight,” Wright said. “I had what I would call a moment where my entire life flashed before my eyes from what I could remember at two or three years-old up until this moment.”

Janae Wright was pregnant when she was shot and robbed on the porch of her home in 2021.

Seeing several juveniles and mothers injured from these shootings scars her heart.

“Having been a mom myself and my child affected by it before he was even born, I can only imagine how these mothers that already have a bond with their children, who have a life already, that they have established how this will affect that for them,” Wright said. “My heart breaks for them.”

While these shooting victims injuries are said not to be fatal, Wright said there is still a long road of recovery ahead both physically and mentally.

“And I don’t like to speak for a group of people but from my own personal experience there was a lot of mental anguish,” Wright said. “There was a lot of confusion and there was anger. Who did this to me, how could they, why would they? And you just want to get to the bottom of it.”

In Wright’s case, she has taken the fight into her own hands and now works as a Trauma Interventionist at UofL Health.

It’s a role she hopes can help survivors like her move forward with their lives.

“We’re providing individuals who have been impacted by gun violence or any type of trauma, the proper resources to help rehabilitate their life, get them back to being an active member of society that they were prior to the incident,” Wright said.

Wright said if it wasn’t for the resources provided to her by Trauma Interventionists at UofL Health, she doesn’t think she would be where she is today.

She encourages others to give it a try and take advantage of the help being offered.

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