Dadeville mass shooting survivor able to walk, talk following coma, father says

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Another sign of hope and healing has come for another Dadeville mass shooting survivor. Cara Johns is making amazing progress after being shot three times.

Her father, Justin Johns, said his daughter is now walking and talking. This comes just weeks after she woke up and was taken off of a ventilator after being in a medically induced coma due to severe brain swelling. The 16-year-old was moved from a hospital in Columbus to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham earlier this month to undergo another surgery.

Justin Johns said his daughter is getting physically stronger every day and has started therapy.

“She actually recovered faster than we anticipated. So there’s a chance, I don’t really want to say exactly when, but it’s pretty soon that she might be able to come back home,” he said.

Johns said they have had conversations about what she remembers the night of the shooting on April 15. He said Cara told him she doesn’t remember anything besides going to the prom and the birthday party where the shooting happened.

“So that she remembers bits and pieces of it. So some of her memory is starting to come back to her,” said Johns.

He said they are grateful she is alive and has made it this far. One thing that Cara’s father said he believes has kept her encouraged is the letters of support people have sent to her.

“I’m more than grateful. I might get emotional about that, but it’s a big deal. You got churches out of Augusta, Georgia that’s been writing letters to her. You got churches here in Birmingham who are so supportive of her. It just makes me feel a lot, a lot of emotions at one time when I read off some of these letters to her. She sits there in the bed listening to me and she smiles,” Justin Johns said.

He said Cara is very thankful that people are concerned for her. He said they have received close to 100 letters so far.

If you would like to support Cara and her family a GoFundMe campaign has been set up.

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