Virginia Beach Boy Shot in Head Finds Road to Recovery at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters
Acute Pediatric Inpatient Rehab Unit at CHKD Specializes in Helping Kids Affected by Traumatic Injuries, Illnesses
Norfolk, Virginia, June 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NORFOLK, Va. – Emily Rigsby and Steven Davis sat next to their son, Landyn, in the pediatric intensive care unit desperately watching for any sign that he would be OK. The 8-year-old had been playing video games when gunfire outside sprayed 27 bullets into his Virginia Beach home. One of the bullets to pierce the house also struck Landyn on the left side of his head, pushing its way through his brain where it came to a complete stop above his right ear.
Doctors at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk told Emily and Steven they couldn’t remove the bullet because it would cause further harm. When Landyn finally opened his eyes a week after the shooting, it became clear he had a long recovery ahead of him. The bullet’s path had created a wake of damage that erased his ability to speak, move his arms and legs, and swallow food.
Still, Landyn was alive. It gave his parents hope that Landyn could somehow recover. Over the course of their bedside vigil, CHKD nurses told them incredible stories about the acute inpatient rehabilitation unit at CHKD where Landyn would ultimately spend the next several weeks regaining his strength and relearning basic skills. The rehab unit is a place where children arrived on a ventilator and left, weeks later, strong enough to breathe on their own. It was also on this unit that a young girl who had been in a coma suddenly started talking again and told her nurses that she heard them speaking to her for weeks. For the Davis family, stories like these helped them persevere through each emotional and trying day.
“We were hopeful that the rehab unit team could help Landyn,” Emily said. “We just had hope that they’d be able to work their magic. The nurses were very encouraging.”
Located on CHKD’s fifth floor, the inpatient pediatric rehab unit has eight patient rooms, each one specially equipped for a child who has limited mobility. All of the rooms have an overhead ceiling lift and accessible bathrooms with open shower designs. Next door in the state-of-the-art therapy gym, patients use equipment specially designed for kids who need to learn how to stand and walk again. Patients come from all over Virginia as well as Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
The unit, which underwent a major renovation in 2018, has a U.S. Navy Blue Angels theme. There are plane formations on the walls and nurses’ stations that look like aircraft hangars, along with “runway” hallways with markers to motivate patients to walk and wheel themselves greater distances.
Because it’s part of an acute care children’s hospital, CHKD’s rehab unit is qualified to care for children with complex medical needs, such as ventilator support, that most inpatient rehab units do not handle. In many cases, this means that CHKD can begin rehabilitation earlier in a child’s recovery process than other facilities.
Children who come to the unit stay anywhere from two weeks to six months, according to Dr. Rianna Leazer, the unit’s medical director. Most of these patients have suffered multiple traumatic injuries or have had a stroke or prolonged illness that left them so deconditioned they have difficulty doing things independently like getting dressed or brushing their teeth. Many of them have been in a car accident or were struck by a car. And a growing number of them, such as Landyn, have suffered gunshot wounds.
“It’s really devastating,” Leazer said. “A lot of kids have spinal cord injuries or loss of a limb, and it's life-life changing for them. We have teenagers who have become quadriplegic or paraplegic from gun violence.”
Many families and patients go through a grieving process where they have to accept that life may never be the same for them. “There are a lot of emotional and social challenges that come with rehab nursing but it’s one of the most rewarding aspects because these kids are sometimes with us for weeks or months at a time,” said CHKD registered nurse Patrick Willis who has worked on the unit since 2021. “We become an extended family member. We’re able to help the kids process these changes, help the parents accept what their kid is going through, and eventually these kids accept their situation. It’s really rewarding to see them shift in their perspective and see things positively.”
Many children recovering on the unit were brought to CHKD when they first became injured because the hospital is a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, which offers the highest level of care for critically injured kids under the age of 15. Once patients are stabilized and ready to begin intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapies, they’re moved to the inpatient rehab unit. Here, they are cared for by a multidisciplinary team that includes therapists, nurses, doctors, social workers, mental health providers and school teachers.
“Every single day, you’re a part of this really big team where each person is focused on their niche and their specialty to produce a greater result than any person could do individually,” Willis said.
Patients work in therapy sessions for several hours each day. Changes to their medications and feedings can be quickly addressed while they’re staying on the unit whereas it could take weeks to make these adjustments if they were seeing a doctor on an outpatient basis. “Children have a remarkable ability to heal and repair themselves and relearn skills,” Leazer said. “To receive this intensive therapy up front gives them a jump start to their healing process. It speeds up their recovery time by leaps and bounds.”
Witnessing the progress that children make while they’re staying in the rehab unit is why many nurses and providers choose to work there. “It’s probably the most rewarding part of my job, which is why I like it,” Leazer said. “It’s like seeing miracles happen all the time.”
When Landyn moved onto the rehab unit, he still couldn’t speak or swallow. He relied on a feeding tube to stay nourished.
“He laid there and just looked at you all day long,” Emily said. “He couldn’t nod his head “yes” or shake his head for “no.” There was absolutely no movement at all.”
That quickly changed after he started doing three hours of intensive physical, speech, and occupational therapy six days a week. Each day, Landyn would have a specific schedule for his therapy sessions. The therapists would focus their time on what he needed most.
Over the next few weeks, Landyn slowly started to speak again and was able to recall family members and his pets.
“They got him to the point where he could hold his own head up,” Emily said. “He could move his arms and his hands. It was amazing. We felt like our prayers had been answered.”
On the day he left the rehab unit to go home, Landyn was able to express how he was feeling and smile at everyone wishing him well. It had been 91 days since he was shot.
“I thank the doctors, nurses, and everybody at CHKD because they saved my son’s life,” Emily said.
Today, Landyn continues to regain his skills through outpatient physical and occupational therapy sessions at CHKD. Now 10 years old, he’s able to feed himself, use his phone, and has learned how to read sheet music and play the piano, picking out single notes.
Perhaps one of his biggest accomplishments since the shooting was taking his first steps with the help of a ZeroG body-weight support system that’s attached to the ceiling of the gym at CHKD.
Landyn was so proud of himself; he couldn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the day.
Although he currently needs to use a wheelchair, he is working hard on standing and being able to shift his weight. His goal is to head back to school this fall using a walker.
“Every week that we come to CHKD, it’s like he can do more and more,” Emily said. “The therapists are amazing. They’re very patient with these children. They work hard with the goals that they set, and they don’t stop until those goals are met. I’m grateful that they got my son to where he is now. And I'm excited to see how much better he can get.”
Attachments
Alice Warchol Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters (757) 668-9049 alice.warchol@chkd.org
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
