Teenage Shooting Victim Refuses to Be Defined by Tragedy in Inspirational Graduation Speech
"Today I am a winner. My mishap does not define me," the 14-year-old said.
— -- A paralyzed teenage shooting victim from New York City gave an inspiring speech at her middle school graduation, noting that the "mishap does not define me."
Tayloni Mazyck, 14, was caught in the cross-fire of gang violence and shot in the neck and face, leaving her paralyzed when she was 11 years old, according ABC's New York station WABC-TV.
Tayloni graduated on Monday with honors from New Design Middle School in Manhattan, her mother, Priscilla Samuel, told ABC News today.
Tayloni gave a speech at her graduation, telling her classmates, "I was shot in the neck and face by a stray bullet at the age of 11 years old."
"I won today. Today I am a winner. My mishap does not define me," Tayloni said at her graduation. "It does not limit me, it just helps the fighter in me stay alive."
Samuel described her daughter's personality as "bubbly" and told ABC News how proud she is of her daughter's speech. "She has changed a lot from when she got out of the hospital. She has opened up so much," Samuel said.
"I always encourage her to keep doing the things that she would normally do" before she was injured, Samuel said, noting that even though she uses a wheelchair, "that is her only limitation."
Samuel said her daughter inspires her to work hard and make sure Tayloni has every opportunity.
"We went through a lot. We are still going through some pain," Samuel said, adding that the family dealt with "depression, different little anxieties" because they were "not able to get the help that we needed."
Samuel said the biggest factor has been transportation.
"We are not able to do a lot of things because we always have a lot of problems with the train," Samuel said. "We don’t know if the elevator is working. One time we had to ride the train all the way to Coney Island just to get off the train and get back on the train to go back to where we wanted to go."
"Stuff like that makes you sad, and then she says, 'I don't want to go nowhere,'" Samuel said.
Tayloni told her mom that she wanted to work this summer, but she is still concerned about transportation limitations.
When Tayloni grows up, "she wants to be a medical lawyer," Samuel said.
This fall, Tayloni will attend the High School for Law Advocacy and Community Justice, Tayloni told WABC-TV.