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Is this how my life is going waste away? Is this where my future ends?”

Those are the painful reflections of 11-year-old Calyssa Walker, who was hit by a stray bullet during a gunfight as she travelled in a taxi along McCatty Street in Montego Bay in October 2021.

The preteen, who is an aspiring doctor, penned a tear-jerking letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness last week asking for his intervention as her mother struggles to find US$60,000 for cochlear implant surgery in the United States.

Calyssa was one of four bystanders shot in the incident in which rifle-toting attackers engaged men in another car in a high-speed chase and shoot-out in the western city.

She now suffers from excruciating headaches, partial hearing loss, dizziness, imbalance, and has been absent from school since the incident.

Her letter, which she read on camera, is addressed to the health, national security, and education ministries as well as government agencies.

On Sunday morning, more than 47,000 people had viewed the viral video.

In between tears, the Corinaldi Avenue Primary student recounted the nightmare of being shot in the back of the head. The bullet exited through her left jaw. She spent a month admitted to Cornwall Regional Hospital.

“I suffered a fractured skull and I lost hearing in my left ear, and I wasn’t able to walk,” she said.

Calyssa is now walking on her own but said she is unable to do so for long periods.

Doctors here have referred Reece, a single mother, to the RadyChildren’s Hospital in San Diego, California.

My main reason for reaching out is that not even online classes I can participate in. Because when they are speaking and they speak loud, my head starts hurting. If I stand for too long, I get dizzy or tumble over,” she stated in the video.