Beyond wounds: Counseling after Salinas gang violence sometimes overlooked

 

The Salinas Californian/Conner Jay

Joel Aguilar has never been a gang member, but has three bullets in him nonetheless.

The east Salinas teenager is largely paralyzed: He can move his neck, raise both his arms a few inches and move one wrist — the physical toll of a “gang-related” shooting that nearly killed him two years ago.

“That night, I was supposed to die,” he said, remembering the doctors told his parents at the time he wouldn’t last a week.

“But I’m still here.”

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Category : crime, feature, monterey county, salinas