ATLANTA — A Fulton County assistant district attorney is ready to head back to work almost a year after a shooting left her paralyzed from the chest down.
In April of last year, while April Ross was sitting in her car with a friend, her estranged husband walked up and opened fire. Ross said she was shot in the jaw, right arm and in the back. The final bullet hit her spinal cord.
Police said April’s husband, Trenard McConnell, later took his own life.
“It really broke my heart because I thought this was someone who loved me,” Ross said.
This week, Ross had surgery on her arm with intense therapy to follow to help her regain strength and mobility. She said her focus now is on independence.
“I do believe I will walk again,” she said. “I am faithful that I will walk again.”
Ross’ next challenge is returning to work at the DA’s office. She was a rising star working on the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal when she was shot. Her plan is to be back on the job in November.
“They’re in the process of working on my office and putting some modifications in for me,” she said.
Ross told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington that she is also working on two books about her physical and emotional healing. She said the books will detail her troubled marriage and the shooting, as well as offer words of encouragement and resilience.
“I think there is a message that can be sent by me sharing my story,” she said.
Ross, who said her new passion is speaking out against domestic violence, was given a Hero Award after she told her story at a Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence event.
“The signs were there for me to walk away and I almost did, but there was something that convinced me I just needed to work harder, believe more,” she said. “I just needed to compromise more and what I was really compromising was me.”
Through her books and speaking engagements, Ross is on a mission to heal, strengthen, and inspire herself and others.
“Everything I’ve done since this has happened has helped me figure out more about the woman I really am,” she said.
WSBTV
