A courageous 8-year-old Manhattan lady was honored by the NYPD Friday, virtually eight months to the day after she was caught within the crosshairs of two gun-toting teenage gangbangers.
Little Fatou Keita was all smiles when cops gifted her her very first bicycle contained in the Shomburg Heart for Analysis and Black Tradition in Harlem — however broke down in tears when she was reunited with the 2 officers who saved her life on the November day she was shot within the stomach.
“Thank God she’s here with me. That’s the best award, right?” her mom, Fatoumata Keita, advised The Submit.
Fatou has made a full restoration for the reason that disturbing incident on a Harlem road again in November, which despatched shockwaves by means of the town.
The 8-year-old was having fun with a slice of pizza along with her household after working an errand to get her glasses mounted when a stray bullet ripped by means of her torso.
The wound perforated Fatou’s abdomen, diaphragm and colon.
Officers from the thirty second Precinct, Marta Cielepa and Joanna Vanegas, rushed to her help, with an NYPD sergeant particularly asking Vanegas, who had 19 years of expertise as an EMT, to assist on the scene.
“I’m thinking, ‘Okay, this is really bad. This is critical, this is medical … If she’s calling me, this is something that’s really critical,’” Vanegas recalled in an interview with The Submit.
The officers did their greatest to maintain Fatou calm by asking her about her day and assuring her that she can be okay, however they shortly realized they wanted to place her within the squad automotive and rush her to the hospital, the place she was taken in for emergency surgical procedure.
“We were calling multiple times to ‘rush the bus, rush the bus, rush the bus’ — and no answer. So we said, ‘Let’s just take her. She’ll get there quicker,” Vanegas, of Westchester, mentioned, utilizing EMT communicate for ambulance.
“The adrenaline was pumping. I am not going to lie, the adrenaline was pumping. It’s a scary moment for us, not only for the victim, but for us also, because we wanted to make sure that she gets the proper care.”
Cops mentioned the slug got here from True Womack, 17, and Daniel Idowu, 19, who allegedly fired 9 instances in an try and strike a rival gang member. The pair solely succeeded in wounding the younger lady.
The alleged assailants ditched the gun and their garments in a futile try to flee, however have been nabbed inside minutes of the gunfire.
The pair are behind bars as they await trial on costs of second-degree tried homicide and felony possession of a weapon and first-degree assault.
Cielepa and Vanegas have been every honored with a “Certificate of Appreciation” at Friday’s medal ceremony, and watched on with glee as little Fatou accepted her “Survivor Award.”
The largest shock, nonetheless, got here after they wheeled out a model new white Glerc bicycle with coaching wheels and a basket — which was purchased with private cash that officers from the thirty second precinct pooled collectively.
Fatou saved it easy when requested how she felt in regards to the bicycle, telling The Submit: “Good.”
When requested about being reunited along with her heroes, she mentioned she felt: “Amazing.”
“She deserves [the bicycle], she deserves a lot. I’m just happy that she’s going to grow up, and, not be another statistic on the street, having a child being shot and being a victim of gun violence,” mentioned Vanegas.
Cielepa added that saving Fatou’s life has been her most rewarding expertise in her profession.
“Aside from it being very nerve-wracking, because we were first on scene, so we had to make sure that the vicinity was safe, it just happened so quickly that honestly, I’m more than grateful that Officer Vanegas was there with me,” she mentioned.
“I would love to see who she grows up to be in 10 years, and what she ends up doing with her life. Maybe we will inspire her to become a police officer one day.”
The pair vowed to keep up a correspondence with Fatou, particularly on her birthdays.
