‘Not a normal gunshot’: It will be a year before this Parkland freshman can walk again

A survivor of last month’s school shooting in Parkland reportedly almost needed an amputation after a single bullet from the gunman’s AR-15 mauled his right foot and ankle.

Kyle Laman, a 15-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, told TMZ that he will need four surgeries and a year of rehab before he will be able to walk again. During the Valentine’s Day shooting at the freshman’s school, a former student killed 17 and injured more than a dozen.

Kyle had to undergo surgery and skin grafts to repair damaged ligaments. He said waking up from surgery was “torturous” and “hurt so bad,” TMZ reports.

Kyle’s mother, Marie Laman, shared photos of her son’s gruesome injury that show gunman Nikolas Cruz’s bullet pierced through the top of Kyle’s foot and ankle, leaving a small chunk missing. The photos, which may not be suitable for all audiences, are displayed on TMZ’s website.

Laman compared her son’s injury to something out of the “Walking Dead” TV show about a zombie apocalypse.

“That’s not a normal gunshot,” she said. “The whole top of my son’s foot was shot off. They had to reconstruct his whole foot.”

After two weeks in the hospital, Kyle — who is a member of the Sunrise Fire Rescue “Explorers” group — returned to his Coral Springs home on Thursday, according to the Sun Sentinel. In photos shared by the department, Kyle seems to be in good spirits, just happy to be alive.

One other patient remains at Broward Health Medical Center, and is listed in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman told the newspaper.

This story was originally published March 3, 2018 at 1:16 PM with the headline "‘Not a normal gunshot’: It will be a year before this Parkland freshman can walk again."