10-year-old gets prosthetic eye, new outlook on life after being hit by stray bullet

Ken Lemon
·2 min read

More than a year after a shooting took a young boy’s eye, he now has a replacement for it and a new outlook on life.

Reporter Ken Lemon spoke with J.D. Jackson’s mom Wednesday as her son learns to celebrate the day that changed his life.

Beyond getting a new eye, J.D. has a new way of seeing his world. His mother, Mary Jackson, said from this year on, J.D. plans to celebrate two birthdays: The day he was born, and the day a stray bullet went into his house and hit him in the eye.

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The 10-year-old got a new prosthetic eye Tuesday, and now, he’s getting beyond the hurt of what happened in August 2022.

“He survived and there’s not a sad story that J.D. will give you,” his mom said.

J.D. was sitting on his couch in his Gastonia home when he was hit. The bullet, which was from a shooting outside, went through the walls, into his left eye, and penetrated the mind and spirit of aa innocent 9-year-old.

He got his first prosthetic eye last year. At the time, he had concerns about being different. He also had nightmares about the shooters.

“I want him to remember that day,” Mary Jackson said.

She said she treated the anniversary of that shooting like another birthday. J.D. got ice cream, went bowling and did anything he wanted to do.

“I was celebrating the fact that J.D. was still here,” she said.

There have been no arrests, but she said she has no hatred and no fear.

“If J.D. sees me stop and get sad, then that’s going to change his way of thinking,” Jackson said.

She said her son has come a long way from the days of nightmares. He now sees the world differently -- a life with no limits.

“He sees that he can do whatever he puts his mind to. And he’ll do it and he will get it done,” she said. “It was also a blessing. It was also a miracle in disguise.”

The family still wants an arrest in this case, but police deemed the investigation inactive, they say, because witnesses are not cooperating.

The Jackson family said J.D. will continue to grow no matter what happens in this case.

(WATCH PREVIOUS: Mother says 9-year-old asked ‘Am I going to die?’ after being shot)