MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Reports of children and teenagers shot in South Florida – some sadly dying from their injuries while others are lucky to be alive – are not uncommon.
Anthony Aguirre was only 13 years old when he came face to face with a barrel of a gun.
“Traumatized, something I never went through,” he said. “I just saw the Glock 22.”
Aguirre was grazed in the leg and was losing blood, so he was rushed to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. He admits he was hanging with the wrong crowd.
“I used to sell, so when you do stuff like that, people are going to try and hurt you,” said Aguirre.
He said the shooting was a defining moment in his life.
“I elevated from that and I became greater and I never looked back after that,” Aguirre said.
It wouldn’t be his last time dealing with gun violence, though.
Aguirre’s best friend was only 15 years old when he was fatally shot in Homestead in late 2022.
Police arrested two teenagers in connection to the shooting.
“I miss him every day, I think about him every day,” said Aguirre.
They aren’t old enough to vote, drive a car or order a drink, yet they have seen a lifetime of heartache.
Jeremiah Manley, just 13 years old, almost lost his mother due to gunfire.
“I lost some friends, some cousins, some uncles, I almost lost my mom to gun violence too,” Manley said.
From children losing loved ones to parents grieving the loss of their own child, Sybrina Fulton knows the pain all too well.
Her son, Trayvon Martin, was shot 12 years ago while he was visiting his dad in Sanford.
“I’ve lost family members before, to lose a child, it’s more severe and a difficult pain to try to heal from,” said Fulton. “My heart bleeds for other kids.”
Dr. Julie Valenzuela, a trauma surgeon at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, said every moment counts when a minor is brought in with a gunshot wound.
She’s treated countless children and teens with gunshot wounds and said Ryder Trauma Center has seen an uptick.
“Just like the rest of the nation, we are seeing a trend in increase rise in violent injuries from guns,” said Valenzuela. “It’s several times a week if you pay attention closely.”
More recently, in 2022, 116 children came into the trauma center with gunshot injuries.
In 2023 from January to November, 97 children were treated.
“The demographics typically involve young teens and it tends to be African American men,” said Valenzuela.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun-related injuries are the leading cause of death for kids and teens, surpassing car crashes and illnesses.
“It’s heartbreaking, and secondly, on some level, it’s infuriating because it’s preventable,” said Valenzuela, who called it a crisis. “It is a crisis, our children are dying from gun violence and they should not be.”
So, what’s the solution?
Enter the Circle of Brotherhood, an organization of primarily Black men dedicated to crime prevention, community service, and youth mentorship.
Executive member Albert Campbell says he uses his own story to change lives.
“I prayed an earnest prayer to God, and I asked him, If you would spare my life, and release me from prison, that I will come back to a community that I help destroy and do everything with my might and my power to help write some wrongs that I did to this community,” he said.
Campbell has held up his promise. Since 2016, his message has reached hundreds of children.
“With the training of the COB, we are trained to go in some of the worst places and reach some of the worst people and change some of their lives and I live for that,” said Campbell.
Aguirre is also using the most traumatic moment of his life to help other kids.
“This is the whole reason why I like helping kids,” he said. “I see myself in them.”
Since 2012, the Circle of Brotherhood has engaged thousands, and the White House is taking notice of their work. The organization is one of six that received $2 million from the Biden administration.
The executive director says the work isn’t done and the money will continue to help fight the good fight.