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Mykia Carpenter Hears Own Voice Again After Stray Bullet Pierces Throat: 'I'm Not Letting It Stop Me'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A teenager heard her own voice for the first time this week after a stray bullet hit her in the neck.

Someone shot Mykia Carpenter as she was leaving work in Uptown Minneapolis last month. Doctors didn't know if the 18 year old would ever speak again.

"I'm taking things slow, trying to slowly process everything still," Mykia said.

She has kept a positive attitude throughout her recovery. And she's talking again, in a whisper, a month after a bullet went through her neck, damaging her artery, trachea and vocal cords. It was emotional when she heard her voice for the first time again.

"I started crying because they said it was a possibility I could never speak again, but it was another miracle," Mykia said.

Her mom, Angela Holmes, deeply felt the moment as well.

"I cried too right away, just balling," Angela said.

Mykia Carpenter
Mykia Carpenter (credit: CBS)

She knew how close she was to losing her daughter.

"It was hard. That phone call was the worst thing a mother could get," Angela said.

Mykia was one of seven people shot when police say people started firing at each other near Lyndale and Lake avenues in late August.

"I remember everything from when I got to work, to when I woke up in the hospital," Mykia said.

The Minneapolis North High School graduate, who was about to start nursing school, was standing outside the restaurant where she worked.

"First shot went off, I just knew the first shot hit me," Mykia said.

They're grateful for all the prayers and support. Mykia says she plans to keep smiling.

"I'm not letting it stop me. I'm still going to be a nurse. I'm still going to go to college. I'm still going to do what I want to do," she said.

Doctors have ordered a speaking valve to go over Mykia's trach. That should help her talk, and she'll get her feeding tube out soon. She says she's committed to her recovery.

"I just thank God she's here, she's alive with me. I didn't have to bury her," Angela said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with medical expenses.

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