A miraculous recovery was celebrated at a Bronx hospital Friday when 1-year-old Catherine left with her parents four months after being shot in the head.
Doctors feared the toddler would never walk again after a stray bullet went through her cheek and damaged the left side of her brain.
The January shooting hospitalized baby Catherine after a gunman opened fire as she sat in the family car on East 198th Street and Valentine Avenue.
"She was practically paralyzed from one side of the body because of her injury," Catherine's mother, Miraida Gomez, said.
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Catherine's road to recovery included multiple surgeries and months of therapy. The 16-month-old had to learn how to eat again on her own.
"I don't know that anybody would have imagined watching her walk out of here," Dr. Steve Klein, of Blythedale Children's Hospital, said.
Detectives and officers who worked on Catherine's case congratulated the Gomez family Friday as they walked out of the hospital, dropping off gifts and a kiss from a K9 officer.
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The gunman, four months later, remains on the run.
Catherine's doctor says she may have some vision issues on her right eye and mobility issues on her right side. But she's behaving like any healthy toddler her age and continues to beat the odds.
The NYPD has a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest in the case.
