In his first public appearance since the shooting, Yarl and his family attended a Memorial Day walk/run in Overland Park, Kansas, to raise money for traumatic brain injuries. Kansas City teenager Ralph Yarl appeared at a brain injury fundraiser Monday after a devastating shooting last month that left him with scars of his own.
Yarl and his family attended a Memorial Day walk/run in Overland Park, Kansas to raise money for programs and services that support people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. The “Going the Distance for Brain Injury” event included 10K and 5K runs, a 1.5-mile walk, and an activity for children, according to ABC News.
Although he did not speak publicly, Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, addressed those in attendance and updated them on her son’s recovery. She advocated for greater awareness to end brain injuries and the causes behind them, particularly gun violence.
“When you get a traumatic brain injury, everybody expects you to look one way, feel one way or act one way, but it’s not that way,” said Nagbe, ABC reported. “And everybody’s asking me, ‘Have you gone back to work yet? Has Ralph gone back to school yet?’ That’s not the case. A brain injury is a process, it’s not an event. It takes time.”
Faith Spoonmore, Yarl’s aunt, said the incident physically and emotionally damaged her nephew. She mentioned that the teenager has been staying with her and her family because he is uncomfortable returning to his house because it’s in the neighborhood where he was shot. She said that is “so unfortunate because he had a lot of great memories in that home.”
Spoonmore also shared that Yarl, who turned 17 this month, has been experiencing migraines since the shooting, making it difficult for him to play the bassoon or clarinet, his favorite instruments.
“Now you see him, and he’s by himself. But he’s not doing the things that he loves to do, and it’s like he’s a shell,” said Spoonmore, ABC reported. “And that’s the problem, is that there is something that is missing within him.”
