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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mother of 13-year-old boy accidentally shot in face by brother says he’ll be blind for life

Rebecca Linck calls it her “worst nightmare.”

“My youngest son has been shot,” she posted on Facebook at about 2 p.m. Friday. “My soul has never hurt this badly.”

Through a series of updates posted online over the weekend, the North Idaho mother of three boys has chronicled the tragic injury of her youngest – 13-year-old Jade Harlow, who was hospitalized Friday afternoon at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center after his mother says he was accidentally shot in the face with a shotgun by his 15-year-old brother.

The accident apparently happened at the boys’ biological father’s house on South Robinson Creek Road near Cataldo. The family wrote in a post that the 15-year-old didn’t know the 12-gauge shotgun was loaded.

The younger teen likely will be blind for life, after doctors apparently told the mother his eyes need to be removed, his mother said. His skull is fractured, his teeth are gone, and he has several wounds on his face from buckshot pellets.

But even so, Linck said only a day after the injury, he was alert and talking – even asking if the “press is coming” because he’s now a celebrity.

“This boy is the single most extraordinary miracle ever,” she wrote. “He holds our hands, he is snoring right now, we have a long road to go, but Jade has already defied all odds.”

Since the injury, Linck said she’s received hundreds of messages in support. A GoFundMe fundraiser was created by friends and family Sunday. By Tuesday morning, it had received more than $10,000 in donations that will go toward housing and feeding Jade’s family while they stay in Spokane. Funds also will go toward hospital bills, therapy, training a seeing-eye dog and retrofitting their home.

Linck repeatedly referred to her son as a miracle as she posted photos of his injuries with updated information on his condition. She also writes at length about her spirituality and faith.

On Sunday, she wrote that Jade’s brother told the 13-year-old what happened, as he wanted to be the one who broke the news. Unsurprisingly, she said, Jade forgave him completely.

“He knows how loved he is, he is accepting and so forgiving,” she wrote. “There is so much healing, heartache, blessings, tragedy happening all at once. I have never been more in love with or proud of our boys, all of our boys.”