NORFOLK, Va. — For the first time since a stray bullet hit 8-year-old Landyn Davis in the head, the young boy gave 13News Now an update on his recovery.
On Feb. 13, a shooting on Peele Court in Virginia Beach sent Landyn to the hospital. Landyn was playing video games on the computer inside his home when a stray bullet hit him.
First responders rushed Landyn to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters where doctors placed him in a medically induced coma for a week.
Nearly three months later, Landyn is finally able to speak. The boy's mother, Emily Rigsby, said Landyn's first word since the shooting was "mom." The young boy was able to muster a few words to 13News Now Wednesday.
"Good," Landyn said when asked how he's doing.
Landyn's parents, Rigsby and Steven Davis, said he'll be released from the hospital in about two weeks, just in time to celebrate his ninth birthday at home. The couple said they plan to throw him a big birthday party.
When asked what he wants to do once he's released from the hospital, Landyn replied, "LEGOLAND."
Rigsby said Landyn has always loved LEGO, and it's been the boy's dream to visit LEGOLAND before the shooting.
Rigsby and Davis never gave up hope that their son would recover.
“Ever since day one, I’m like, I’m not going to listen to what the doctors say. I’m going to see what he can do because they didn’t think he was going to be able to do anything, and look at him!" Rigsby said.
While Landyn's road to recovery hasn't been an easy one, his parents continue to celebrate each victory. The couple shared some of Landyn's latest achievements.
"We were in speech, and they asked him what he wanted to do, and he said ‘math.’ He said he wanted to do multiplication, and he got every answer right," Davis said.
The couple said Landyn is getting stronger every day. They said he will return to school in the fall.
Virginia Beach police said four people have been charged so far in connection to the shooting that sent Landyn to the hospital.
Since August, at least three other children have been hit by stray bullets across Hampton Roads. Last week, 10-year-old Keontre Thornhill died after a fight between teenage girls ended in gunfire, according to Portsmouth police. Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins called Keontre an innocent bystander who was inside his home at the time of the shooting.
Rigsby said her heart goes out to Keontre's family.
"Don't allow this to happen to another child," Rigsby said. "This is the fourth one in the last few months, and not every child is as lucky as mine."