MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) — The last shooting victim from the school shooting in Madison has been released from the hospital. On Dec. 16, 2024, at Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS), a shooter killed 14-year-old student Rubi Vergara and 42-year-old teacher, Erin West. Six students were also shot. Among them was Samy Garduño-Martínez, whose life and family's lives were forever changed.

"I didn't expect for Samy to be one of the students shot," said Samy's mother, Gabriela Martinez.

Samy Garduño-Martínez Samy Garduño-Martínez

The 17-year-old high school senior at ALCS was a cross-country runner, heavily involved in school, and was even an editor for a teen newspaper, the Simpson Street Free Press. On Dec. 16, he sustained several gunshot wounds, including at least two to the head and one in his chest.

"I think the surgery teams were really concerned about whether or not he was going to survive these gunshots," said Dr. Brian Williams, a pediatric hospitalist at American Family Children’s Hospital.

Gabriela heard about the shooting from her younger son, who texted her from a friend's phone. She said she didn't recognize the number and at first thought it was a bad joke. As family members who worked at a local hospital started calling her, asking if her kids were okay, she called the school hoping to get answers. However, no one would answer as Gabriela believes other parents were doing the same thing. She and her husband immediately drove to the hospital, which was on lockdown.

"I knew things weren't right, but I didn't know how bad they were until we got to the hospital," she said. "That was something that no other parent expects to hear - the words that they don't know if he is going to survive the shots that he got in the head."

The trauma from the gunshots "affected nearly all parts of his body," said Dr. Williams. Samy immediately required several surgeries for bleeding and swelling in his brain, damage to his kidneys, liver, and spinal cord. The young man even required a breathing machine. Samy was given a 1-3% chance of surviving.

"I say the word 'devastating' over and over. This is a kid who loved to run, loved to do cross-country. You know, he was preparing for his adult life, preparing to graduate from high school," shared Dr. Williams.

"It is so difficult to express how hard, how painful it is. You can’t describe in words living like this every single day, with doctors saying we did everything we did, [there is] nothing else we can do. That was very hard for us to hear and live every single day, for months. Not just one time, for months," said Gabriela.

For months, Samy's family relied on their faith, praying for a miracle. Gabriela said that while science says there's nothing else that can be done, God always has something else in store. Weeks were spent at the hospital, waiting for Samy to make his recovery. Gabriela recounted Christmas being especially difficult. As doctors and medical staff were making holiday plans, they had to be in the hospital, their lives forever changed. However, while children got to unwrap gifts under Christmas trees, "The most beautiful gift that the Lord gave us was the resurrection of our son," she shared.

Through operations, prayers and support from visitors -- including his friends and even first responders -- the miracle happened.

"The [neurosurgeon] who operated on him said, 'We're sorry, but Samy won't walk again. We did our best, and now we can only hope for the best for him.' He told us that on Monday, and by Saturday morning, Samy was walking," Gabriela said. 

When Samy was admitted to the hospital, doctors told Gabriela that almost 45% of Samy's brain had been damaged. If he were to wake up, he'd be in a vegetative state, they said.

"[The neurosurgeon] told us that Samy is the miracle of the decade," Gabriela said. 

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Samy started walking and talking again as the family hoped. Through devastation, American Family Children's Hospital in Madison became Samy's home. Gabriela said the family was so close to getting out of the hospital as he was talking, eating, even doing schoolwork from the hospital. While he made great strides, on March 7, one month before he was set to go home, that all changed.

"He had a devastating setback where he got confused and started having seizures, and it was quickly discovered that he had developed a case of autoimmune encephalitis," said Dr. Willliams.

Essentially, Samy's brain was attacking itself. Samy had to go back to the ICU.

"Another round of being in a coma, another intubation, another round of hopelessness from the doctors," said Gabriela.

"As bleak as everything looked when he came in, I do think you could describe that as miraculous, with how injured he was, and I think that worst week of the hospital was a miracle," said Dr. Brian Williams.

Samy would be in a coma for five weeks, including during his 18th birthday. Eventually Samy woke up, having lost his ability to communicate.

"Every doctor who treated him gave us no hope, no indication that he would come back. So, it was a process of living day to day with news that no parent wants to hear, feeling that no parent wants to feel," said Samy's mom. "Every day, I had to overcome the emotions, the pain, the suffering, the process itself. Not only for us as parents, but also for Samy having to live through it."

Eventually, Samy started making progress once again. On Oct. 8, the day they'd all been waiting for had arrived: a send-off from those who cared from him, and a police escort to a rehabilitative center in Chicago.

"It was extraordinarily beautiful as a parent, to see our son coming out of it after so many months of suffering, of pain, of going through processes," said Gabriela.

In Chicago, Samy's now relearning how to swallow, talk, and walk.

Even after the estimated two months in Chicago, it'll be a long road ahead for Samy in intensive outpatient therapies. Gabriela said that Samy has started to express himself and his needs, including, "I'm sad, I don't want to be here." His family is hopeful, as is Dr. Williams.

"A couple months ago, I wasn't sure Samy was going to talk again, so the fact that he's now been medically stable enough to move to a rehab facility where they can provide hours and hours, every day, of therapy, is really promising. So, I think the future is uncertain, but we're optimistic."

With the anniversary of this life-changing event coming up, it's also been a year since Gabriella or her husband worked, as they couldn't bear leaving their son's side.

"As a parent, you want to help your family. This whole time, we haven't been working. The costs don't stop," she said.

Without work, they've been left with endless hospital bills, soon now needing a specialized wheelchair, a van to fit Samy's wheelchair, and an accessible home. The family created a GoFundMe to help.

"I think the community has been doing amazing to help us but it's still a long road to drive. We are not finished here yet... pray for us, pray for our son, and pray for a quick recovery. It’s been so long, we want to return back home," she said.

A long road they won't soon forget.

"We want to somehow show the community that what we are going through is real. It is real. Maybe people can imagine how difficult it is. But living it and experiencing it goes beyond that," Gabriela said. 

Faith throughout this journey has carried the family forward.

"These have been such complicated, difficult times, but nothing that the Lord cannot give us the strength to overcome," said Gabriela. "Our journey is not finished yet. We don't know how long it's going to take us. One day we’ll be back home, we'll see Samy walk again. That is our hope, that is our faith."