Richianna DeGuzman walked onto the campus of James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach this week for her first day of classes, three years after a stray bullet struck her in the head at Maili Beach Park in Waianae during what should have been an ordinary day at the beach. She was 17 at the time, and doctors initially believed the wound would kill her within days. Now 20, DeGuzman has enrolled in the school’s special education program, a milestone her family describes as one of the biggest steps yet in a recovery that has stretched across three years of hospital stays, therapy and setbacks.
According to Hawaii News Now, DeGuzman’s mother, Susan Mahiai, walked her daughter onto campus and called the return a massive step in her daughter’s road to recovery. State Sen. Kurt Fevella, who represents Ewa Beach, also accompanied DeGuzman to campus as students and staff cheered her on, the station reported. Mahiai said her daughter needs more sociable activities and events going forward, adding that DeGuzman continues to work on walking independently and on improving her speech.
A Head Wound Doctors Feared Would Kill Her Within Days
DeGuzman was shot twice at Maili Beach Park in June 2023 — once in the head above her left ear and once in her left thigh — according to Honolulu Civil Beat. The outlet reported that her initial medical prognosis gave her only three days to live, and that the shooting left her partially paralyzed.
In the early months of her recovery, DeGuzman could not speak and communicated with her family only by selecting yes or no on a specialized phone app, the outlet reported. By late 2024, she had regained her speech and could recite the alphabet on her own, one of several milestones on her way back to the classroom…