More than a week after North Carolina man Brandon Yam was struck in the head by a stray bullet, causing traumatic brain injury, he is being transferred Wednesday to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta for treatment.
Yam, who is recovering slowly, is looking forward to returning to Atlanta where he lived until his marriage, not only to the specialized treatment he will receive at the Center, but also to being closer to his Atlanta-based family.
“He is kind of depressed because of the whole thing, the whole situation. He is looking forward to going to Atlanta,” said sister Chenda Yam Wilson. “He said ‘Chenda, when are we going?’ And he keeps asking what time.”
Wilson said she thinks the Shepherd Center will be the best place for her brother and, for now, his wife and children have relocated to Atlanta to be there for him.
“There is no doubt about it and he is very determined to work as hard as he can,” she said.
Yam was shot the night of the 4th of July at the Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Charlotte. Yam's family, originally from Cambodia, is still almost entirely based in Atlanta, and asked to get him transferred to the center where his sisters Wilson and Phally Yam Bentley work.
Wilson said her brother was at the family’s food and drink stand at the temple, which had just opened and was having a celebration, when he suddenly collapsed in front of his wife of almost 20 years and two of his four children. He had been struck in the head by a bullet that literally fell out of the sky.
The bullet lodged in his head and his condition fluctuated over the following days.
Yam was partially paralyzed but alert and responsive July 6 and was transferred to a regular floor, but the morning of July 7, his condition worsened he was transferred to neuro-ICU. Since then, Wilson said he has continued to improve and was moved back to a regular floor.
Thursday, he was sitting up and talking, but doctors predict a long road to recovery. Yam is now in occupational and physical therapy.
“He is still working on basic motor skills like washing his face,” Wilson said. “He can pick up tennis balls; he can pick it up and hold it where before he couldn’t hold it. With his left hand he can toss the ball… so that’s a big improvement.”
Wilson said she is not aware of any updates in the case. She and her family ask the public to report any information about the shooting to the police.
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