NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It was a terrible early morning shooting in August of 2018. Maya Cluchey was shot in the back by two men traveling in a dark sedan down an Inglewood road.
Since then, Cluchey and her husband, Brian Carroll, have been on a non-stop journey of trying to help her recover.
That journey led them to California and a nonprofit group that helps people who are paralyzed called Next Step. Cluchey is seeking treatment there where they're trying to help her walk again.
Carroll is going to ride 130 miles on his bike from San Diego to LA to raise money for the nonprofit, which helps people in locations across the globe.
Cluchey's recovery has been long. The shooting happened two and a half years ago, and police were investigating it in connection with the Cobra bar killings due to some similarities in the cases. However, she was unable to pick the suspects out of a lineup or identify the dark sedan.
The case gives a rare insight into what victims go through who are permanently damaged by their injury from a crime.
"There's like these stages of grief," said Cluchey from her California home. "I didn't think that I would have them. I was at first kind of like I got this. I have a really great core network behind me, but as life continues you have to get back into the real world."
Cluchey said a crucial piece of her recovery was seeking counseling.
MNPD has counselors for crime victims. NewsChannel 5's Kyle Horan met with one who said each case is different.
"Victims and witnesses can kind of vacillate through a number of trauma reactions," said Ivy Jefferies, MNPD crisis counselor. "They're going to experience some common trauma reactions. The fear, anxiety, avoidance and experiencing recurrence where they're constantly thinking about it over and over again."
Jefferies said the trauma can last a while, though it varies from person to person. She said it's rare to encounter someone whose injury from the crime lasts a long period of time, such as Cluchey's.
She also acknowledged the strain of not having someone charged in the crime.
"We kind of experience the world as we're safe. When something happens where we're not safe anymore, that kind of shatters your belief about what those world assumptions have been for you up until that point," said Jefferies.
Two suspects were arrested in the case of the Cobra killings. Horace Williamson III and Demontrey Logsdon were both charged with first-degree murder among other charges.
At some point, though, both Cluchey and Carroll stopped following the news about the case. It became too painful and distracted from Cluchey's recovery.
However, they're excited for the future as Cluchey said she's starting to feel some tingling sensations in her legs as she progresses in therapy. She spends two hours a day, four days a week at Next Step pursuing her ability to walk.
