Minneapolis woman looks forward, following gang shooting

A Minneapolis woman who six years ago was paralyzed by a bullet from a gang shooting is now hoping to go to college.

Guadalupe Galeno-Hernandez was 13 when, while walking home from a grocery store in south Minneapolis with her family, a 17-year-old gang member stood out from a passing vehicle's sunroof and shot indiscriminately at the family.

A bullet hit her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down.

She's been confined to an electric wheelchair ever since.

"It was really hard. I was really depressed, angry, sad. Really sad," she said. "Because it's weird not feeling your legs for the rest of your life. It's like waking up and being another person."

Last summer, she became the first in her family to graduate from high school. Now 19, she's looking toward her future.

"I'm planning on going to college," she said. "I'm planning to be a teacher, because I like little kids, a lot. I want to be an elementary school teacher."

Saturday, the organization Mad Dads Minneapolis presented Galeno-Hernandez with a cake — a celebration of her progress since the shooting. The annual tradition took place at BMO Harris Bank on East Lake Street, where a bank account was set up after the shooting to help pay expenses for her and her family.

"Guadalupe is a perfect example of somebody who fought the odds," said VJ Smith, the president of Mad Dads, a national organization against gun violence. "But fought some odds that she didn't have to fight. Fought a fight she didn't need to fight. But in spite of that, she still has a smile on her face."

Smith said his group plans to be more active this year in hopes of stopping shootings like the one that paralyzed Galano-Hernandez.

Her mother, Hilda Hernandez, said through a translator that she's proud of her daughter.

"Sometimes, you know, she feels sad. And my daughter, she's very strong, she knows she has to keep going," she said.

Galeno-Hernandez credits her mother's support with getting her through the last few years.

The man who shot Galano-Hernandez is serving a nearly 13 year prison sentence.