Valiant Vada in big step

Leaves hospital for holiday with kin & rehab

By IKIMULISA LIVINGSTON and LEONARD GREENE

The miracle Bronx schoolgirl who was struck in the head by a stray bullet and survived celebrated Thanksgiving in a rehabilitation center yesterday.

Vada Vasquez, 15, was moved from Lincoln Hospital to begin her physical therapy just hours after her doctors said she would be as good as new.

Surgeons who repaired the damage, left by a bullet intended for someone else, said the injury to Vada's brain affected her ability to speak. But the condition can be reversed with time and treatment.

Vada's speedy progress and spunky determination will likely get her home by Christmas, doctors say.

"She's making tremendous progress every day," said Narayan Sundaresan, the neurosurgeon who performed the lifesaving operation that relieved the pressure on Vada's brain.

Sundaresan said the bullet passed through her left temporal lobe, an area that controls speech. He said she had youth on her side, and it helped that she was rushed from the street to surgery in less than an hour.

"She'll probably miss a semester of school," he said. "She'll have special needs."

Sundaresan said if the bullet had struck from a different angle, Vada's family might have had to plan her funeral.

Instead, the week began with Vada being taken off a ventilator, emerging from a coma.

"My daughter is 15," Vada's mom, Gemma, said. "She does a lot of things. She plays the guitar and drums. She does sculptures, so I would like her to get back her body right and her speech back."

Vada's elated family gave thanks for a day they wondered if they ever would see -- when the girl was communicating with them again.

"Even when she couldn't talk, she'd take her hand and caress my face and play with my hair," Gemma said. "She's always been a loving kid. She's my baby."

Gemma said the family would put off its traditional Thanksgiving feast at home until the teen is able to eat again.

Meanwhile, the 16-year-old suspected shooter and his alleged accomplices dined in jail on a Thanksgiving meal that included turkey with dressing, yams, steamed greens and carrot cake.

Vada was shot in the back of the head Nov. 16 as she walked home from school.

Five reputed gang members were arrested, including Carvett Gentles, the accused gunman.

VADA VASQUEZ' FIRST WORDS: "MOM"

The Bronx girl struck in the head by a stray bullet during a street fight looked up at her mother yesterday and whispered her first word since being shot: "Mom."

"She's recognizing family members," said Renelda Walker, a spokeswoman for Lincoln Hospital, where 15-year-old Vada Vasquez is miraculously recovering since she took a bullet meant for another teen during a gang dispute.

"She's improving. She's in stable condition, but still in the intensive-care unit."

Vada's devoted mother, Gemma, has been at the girl's bedside virtually every moment since her child was shot.

A family source said Vada goes in and out of consciousness, but is trying to smile and look around.

"I talked to her about all the stuff that's happening," the relative said. "I'm trying to keep her updated, even if she can't answer me back."

Five reputed gang members were arrested in the violence, including a 16-year-old baby-faced gunman, police said.