Woman Helped Save 10-Year-Old Girl Shot In Chicago Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Ten-year-old Lamya Sparks' family has spent countless hours at Comer Children's Hospital by her bedside. As she fights to recover, the community is asked to step up and find her shooter.
Days after getting caught in the crossfire Lamya continues to recover from the gunshot wound to her back.
"I"m still traumatized about it," said Angelic Arceo.
Arceo lives near Russel Square Park on 83rd and South Shore.
"I just heard the gunshots," she said.
She rushed outside that night to help little Lamya laying in the field.
"When I showed up to her I told her, 'I don't see no blood. I don't think you got hit,' and she said, 'No, I got hit.' Her friend lifted her shirt, and that's when I seen the bullet hole in her back by her spine, and the big old lump in her stomach," Arceo said.
She stayed with Lamya, attempting to calm her and encouraging her to stay alert.
"She was just looking at me sometimes and closed her eyes," she said. "She was saying, 'I can't I can't. I'm trying.' I told her, 'You got this. You got this.'"
Arceo held Lamya's hand until paramedics arrived. The girl has undergone many surgeries as the shooter remains on the loose.
Her family is puzzled by the senseless act.
"Especially the little brother and the sister. They were there when everything was going on," Arceo said.
Of all the children in the park, Lamya was the only one hit.
There is currently a $4,000 reward to find the shooter. It runs through the weekend. The hope is a timeframe will lead to faster tips.
"If you know who it is point them out," Arceo said. "We can't have this. We've got too many kids. Next time it's going to be one of yours."
