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Chicago Shooting Survivor Turns To Art For Therapy

(CBS) -- He was shot while shoveling snow. Now, a local artist is coping with the help of his artwork.

CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reports.

Terrell Walton grew up on Chicago's South Side. He says he wanted something different for his son.

All that changed on a snowy January day back in 2014.

Walton was just 22 at the time. He was shot twice, in a case of mistaken identity while he was shoveling in the Stony Island Park neighborhood.

"I got shot in the left forearm, then I got shot in my back," he says.

The shot to his back traveled to his neck.

Walton's passion for art soon became his lifeline.

"It was my rehab, physically and mentally," he says.

He says he had no interest in retaliating with violence. His retaliation is art.

"Why I'm doing this is also, too, for the victims of gun violence that don't have this opportunity," he says.

Walton has plans to showcase some of his work inspired by his personal story and hopes to be able to start a larger conversation about crime in Chicago.

 

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