Doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital have decided that they will seek to remove the bullet that is lodged near Sophia Pitman’s spine on Monday.

Sophia Pitman

On November 18, the 22-year-old woman was shot at close range by a jealous ex-boyfriend who confronted her on Robb Street as she was making her way to her mother’s residence to collect her three-year-old daughter.

She was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital in a serious condition and medical personnel had told Pitman’s relatives that the bullet was lodged dangerously close to her spine and any attempt to remove it could paralyse her or even worse. They then disclosed that additional medical attention abroad was the next option.

However, after spending less than a week in hospital, she was discharged and instructed to return on December 4 for the doctors to see if anything could be done to remove the bullet.

Speaking to Stabroek News via cellular phone from her La Grange, West Bank Demerara home, Pitman said that she is feeling much stronger and the pain around the area where she sustained the gunshot wound has eased.

Recalling what had transpired when she visited the hospital last Wednesday, the young woman said that another x-ray was done to establish the position of the bullet.

She added that swelling in that area has subsided so the medical personnel were able to see the bullet clearly.

When she was discharged from the institution, the area was bandaged and it required daily attention to ensure quick healing.

Pitman said that last Wednesday the bandage and the stitches on the wound were removed. She said that the wound has healed.
Further, she added that she was told to come back at 7 am on December 15 for the surgery to be done.

Asked if she has any fears about this, the woman indicated that she did not but said “all I praying for is for it to be done.”

She said that up to now the police have been unable to apprehend her attacker and she is clueless as to where he might be.

Around 8 pm on November 18, Pitman was confronted by her ex-boyfriend at the corner of Robb and Cummings streets.

While holding onto her, he told her that he wanted to play a game and later pulled out a weapon which he said contained two bullets, one for her and the other for him.

After shooting the young mother under her right breast at close range, the man fled the scene.

Following the shooting, Pitman managed to run a short distance and a car later took her to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

While in the emergency room, an x-ray was done and surgery was planned but that idea was later abandoned. Instead a tube was inserted to drain fluid from her body and she was admitted to the High Dependency Unit in a serious condition.

Following a chest scan she was transferred to the open ward two days later.

The woman, while recalling her ill-fated relationship with the 25-year-old man, had said that things began to change when they moved to the interior to work. Her relatives did not approve of him and told him to leave.

In February, he chopped her on the hand and this prompted her to end the relationship and she subsequently moved on with someone else. She said this angered him further, prompting his latest attack.