A little girl in New Orleans is being given credit for saving her mother’s life.
In March 2022, Blossom and her mother, Harmonese Pleasant, were hit by what appears to have been a stray bullet outside their Louisiana home, according to Live Action. Pleasant was still carrying her unborn daughter in her womb at the time, and Blossom took the brunt of the trauma.
“Blossom basically blocked the bullet from wounding Harmonese more,” Blossom’s father, jazz trumpet musician Kermit Ruffins told People magazine. “She came into this world and saved her mom’s life.”
Both mother and baby survived, but Blossom is expected to have life-long problems as a result of the bullet wound, her parents said. Police still have not identified a suspect in the shooting.
Harmonese Pleasant said she was nine-months pregnant with Blossom when they were shot. Standing outside her house on March 24, 2022, she said she was talking on the phone when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and saw blood seeping from a wound.
Immediately, she called Ruffins, her boyfriend and Blossom’s father, who drove her to the hospital. At the time, the couple said neither of them realized that Harmonese had been shot.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
At the hospital, doctors identified the bullet wound and quickly performed a C-section to remove and care for Blossom, according to the report. Before her mother even got the chance to hold her, Blossom was taken to the Children’s Hospital New Orleans neonatal intensive care unit.
Doctors said a fragment of the bullet injured the baby girl’s spinal cord, lung and kidney, and she may never walk. Blossom is partially paralyzed, but her parents are hoping and praying for a miracle.
“Doctor say Blossom is not going to be able walk, but miracles happen every day,” Ruffins wrote on Instagram on his daughter’s first birthday this spring. “… HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOSSOM!!”
“We have a long road ahead of us. It’s going to be a little rough, but we are so optimistic,” he added.
Despite her injuries, her parents said Blossom is a happy baby who loves to play and watch Disney movies.
“This little girl is a bundle of joy,” Ruffins said. “She’s laughing and playing all day long. Looking at Harmonese and Blossom every morning is the biggest blessing.”
