Most of her face was gone. There was just this gaping hole where her eyes and nose and most of her mouth had been. I thought she was dead. I just figured this was going to be another homicide scene. Then I saw her fingers start to move – ever so slightly. And it looked like she was trying to breathe through the wound in her face.
The story of Chrissy Steltz, whose face is held on by magnets. Via Metafilter.
Amazing. What a brave woman.
“What a brave woman.”
I wouldn’t argue with that; it’s a remarkable story. But it’s perhaps worth noting that Ms Steltz isn’t an entirely innocent figure in the drama.
“The shotgun that blew away the face of a 16-year-old Portland girl at a party in March was one of 15 weapons the girl, her boyfriend and two friends had stolen to sell for marijuana… Christine Steltz, who was left blind and permanently disfigured in the shooting March 21, was one of two getaway drivers who waited as her boyfriend, William O’Brien III, 18, and another teenager broke into Fox Grocery and Firearms, carrying out 15 guns and thousands of dollars’ worth of rifle scopes and binoculars, police said. Steltz was not charged; her shooting was punishment enough, police and prosecutors agree. Thomas Laski, 17, allegedly was handling a stolen shotgun in O’Brien’s Southeast Portland apartment 12 days after the burglary when he accidentally fired, striking Steltz. He is accused of second-degree assault.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/1999/06/girl_shot_in_face_was_getaway.html
I think we all can agree she paid for her wrongdoing.
Indeed, the punishment could be considered to outweigh the crime (depending on how many other victims of their sales there might be) but my own reservoir of sympathy will only last as long as someone doesn’t say ‘my, isn’t she brave’.
Oops…too late.
I’m more interested in the Story of the doctors and their work rather than the patient.
you know, being stupid isn’t exactly unknown among teens; and it’s amazing what depths of [criminal] stupidity a teen girl will go to in the name of “love”.
That she turned her life around, went back to school, and became a responsible adult is certainly brave in the face of our current society where she could have easily relaxed into “take care of me! I’m a victim!” cynical parasitism.
Face On
David Thompson: The story of Chrissy Steltz, whose face is held on by magnets. Just stunning.