An Oak Forest teen shot while vacationing in Mexico continues to recover at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, back closer to home after surgery in Mexico and procedures at a Texas hospital.
His mother, Ana Cabral, said she’s grateful to have him closer to home, but the past few months have been overwhelming, both emotionally and financially, after she quit her job to care for her son following the December shooting that killed his father, uncle and cousin.
Jason Peña, 14, is undergoing an intensive eight-week therapy program at the rehabilitation center as he works to regain motor functions lost after he was shot in the head and fell into a coma that lasted several weeks, Cabral said.
While he’s shown small signs of progress, such as slight movement in his arms and legs, doctors cautioned only about 30% of his brain may still function due to the severity of the injury, she said.
Jason has not regained the ability to speak or eat on his own and will need extensive therapy to recover control of his arms and legs, Cabral said.
“He’s trying really, really hard,” she said. “Half of his body doesn’t really move, but the other half is trying to move. So for me, right now, therapy is key, and then after that I decided to take him home.”
Jason Peña, his father, Vicente Peña Jr., his uncle, Antonio Fernández, and a third man, Jorge Eduardo Vargas Aguirre, were shot Dec. 27 on a highway near the town of Las Palmas, authorities in Mexico said. Jason was the only one to survive the shooting.
An eighth grader at Prairie-Hills Junior High School in Markham, Jason was in Mexico to visit relatives and celebrate his birthday with his father, uncle and brother, according to Cabral. He was shot just two days before turning 14, she said.
After the shooting, Jason underwent surgery in Mexico to remove the bullet shell, followed by procedures at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston after he was airlifted to the U.S., Cabral said. There, doctors treated him for hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.
Jason still relies on a tracheostomy, a feeding tube and remains on a ventilator, she said. Despite the challenges, Cabral said she’s seen steady progress during his rehabilitation and believes he’s doing the best he can.
“It’s just a matter of time, and how much effort he wants to put into it, which he’s putting all the effort,” Cabral said. “I talk to him, I try to reassure him, you know, like, ‘Hey, you can do this. You got this.’ I’m always there behind him, telling him that he can do this. And, you know, he smiles.”
Cabral said Jason’s care team at Shirley Ryan is working toward gradually weaning him off the ventilator to help him begin breathing on his own. He’s now able to take assisted showers, is participating in speech therapy and will soon undergo swallow evaluations to determine whether he can begin eating soft foods like applesauce and purees, she said.
Before arriving at Shirley Ryan, Cabral said they were stuck in Houston, waiting for Medicaid approval to cover Jason’s transfer to Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn. Jason was set to be added to his father’s health insurance, but at the time of the shooting, Peña was transitioning to a new job, leaving Jason uninsured during the 90-day waiting period, she said.
After several long weeks away from her family, Cabral finally received insurance approval and was able to bring Jason to Oak Lawn. Although she was offered several options for rehabilitation, she chose to wait for an opening at Shirley Ryan, and Jason has received care there since April 1, she said.
“He’s doing amazing,” Cabral said. “They have amazing therapists, amazing nurses and stuff. So to me, it has been worth the wait. Although it’s far from home…it’s worth it to see him doing a little bit better.”
After Jason is released, Cabral said she hopes to host an eighth grade graduation party for him. She’s working with his middle school to have his diploma sent to their home so they can still celebrate the milestone together.
“He was super excited about graduating this year,” she said.
Cabral said she has to figure out the next steps for his long-term care. Because she didn’t have insurance at the time of the shooting, she has already incurred significant medical expenses, including the cost of Jason’s treatment at Texas Children’s Hospital, which she said will have to be paid out of pocket..
Cabral lives in Oak Forest with Jason and his younger brother. As a single mother and registered nurse, she’s been out of work for months to care for Jason and was unable to qualify for unemployment since she left her job voluntarily. Now, she’s quickly running out of funds.
While she’s been preparing for Jason’s release, she’s also faced mounting costs for essential medical equipment, including a wheelchair ramp, supplies to help him move around the house and possibly a ventilator or feeding equipment, depending on his needs, she said. She’s also anticipating the need to hire a caregiver so she can return to work.
“It’s hard to do anything right now,” Cabral said. “I have to try to find another contract once I get everything squared away, once they tell me ‘Here’s what you’re going to need for home.’ I’m not sure how I’m going to cover all of it, but I need to return to work as soon as I can.”
Cabral is raising money on crowdfunding website Spotfund to pay for his care.
In January, the attorney general of Durango announced Iram Uranga Armendáriz was arrested in connection with the shooting. He “agreed to an abbreviated procedure” which resulted in a sentence of 66 years, 7 months, and 9 days in prison, according to the attorney general. He was also ordered to pay a fine of about $25,000 and damages of about $184,000, authorities said.
Authorities in Mexico said Uranga Armendáriz shot Fernández, Peña, Vargas Aguirre and Jason at a highway junction near the town of Las Palmas. Earlier, Uranga Armendáriz spoke to Fernández and Peña about a $250,000 debt they owed him after giving them an advance on the purchase of a piece of land in the mountains of the nearby Altares community, which he no longer wanted to purchase, authorities said.
Cabral said Mexican authorities still have Jason’s and his father’s belongings, and she’s waiting to find out whether Uranga Armendáriz has filed an appeal.
For now, though, her focus remains on Jason’s recovery.
“The main thing for me is for him to get better,” she said. “Because if he’s doing better, that means I’ll be doing better as well.”
