Brandon Shackelford, a senior in film studies, is raising money to pay for his brother’s hospital bills. On New Year’s Day two men broke into Blake Shackelford’s home and shot him four times.
According to Brandon Shackelford, his brother was at home watching television when two unknown perpetrators broke in and shot him. Brandon Shackelford said they did not take anything, which makes him think the attack was gang related.
“It’s a tremendously scary situation,” Brandon Shackelford said. “He’s my twin brother and you don’t get any closer than a twin.”
Brandon Shackelford first heard of the news while he was preparing for the new semester. According to Brandon Shackelford, his family didn’t have any details other than his brother had been attacked.
According to Brandon Shackelford, Blake Shackelford is able to walk around and participate in more extensive therapy. It could take another eight months before physicians know whether or not they’ll have to perform another surgery, and it’ll take anywhere between 18 to 24 months for total recuperation.
“This has really taught me a lot about him as a person,” Brandon Shackelford said. “To see him go through this and to keep pushing forward to do whatever it takes. In the hospital he would go as long as he possibly could before he would take the self-administered pain medication.”
According to Brandon Shackelford, Blake Shackelford is facing about $100,000 in hospital bills. Shackelford’s brother is self-employed as a commercial painter and just recently started his own business.
Blake Shackelford is currently staying with family members, and he has done so since the accident. According to Brandon Shackelford, his brother is hesitant to go back to the place he was attacked and has been living on what’s left of his savings.
“He has no insurance at all,” Brandon Shackelford said. “In fact, I never had insurance before I started college. We are from an economic bracket where it was never really feasible to get health insurance. I want to get as many people to help as possible.”
According to Brandon Shackelford, he and his family don’t know many people who are capable of donating large amounts of money and are really dependent on the help of strangers. Brandon Shackelford said has been using social media to try and reach more people.
“I don’t know many people here at school or in Greenville, but we’ve had people as far away as California to donate. It’s really shown me the kindness of strangers,” Shackelford said.
Blake Shackelford was shot four times at close range: twice in the arm, one just barely missed his heart—the bullet actually went out near his stomach—and the other shot hit his leg, Brandon Shackelford said. According to Brandon Shackelford, the shots in the arm went straight through and his brother fought them off until he was shot in the leg.
“At this point now I’m able to talk about it,” Brandon Shackelford said. “It’s abstract in a way, I lived through it and it was all I could think about for several weeks. Now I can finally talk about it, and to talk about it is a tough thing to do. You hear about these things but to go through it and see someone suffer is completely different.”
Brandon Shackelford said that it was difficult concentrating on classes after what happened, but it has gotten easier now that his brother’s prognosis is favorable.
“We are too desensitized to care about the suffering,” Brandon Shackelford said. “Not only is he suffering physically, but now he’s burdened with all of this debt and the question of how he’s going to move forward. He shouldn’t’t have to worry about how he’s going to pay his medical bills for something like this. We still don’t know what health issues will be permanent or if he’ll be able to continue commercial painting, it’s a physically demanding job.”
To donate, visit https://www.youcaring.com/ and search “Blake Shackelford.”
