Victims of Newark shootings visit trauma center staff who helped save their lives

By Rohan Mascarenhas/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK -- Quadir Hutchins does not have a care in the world.

Standing in University Hospital’s foreboding trauma center in Newark, the 6-year-old skipped past hospital beds as he practiced whistling, a newly discovered trick, and held a silver Gameboy close to his chest.
Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerDavid Livingston, director of the New Jersey Trauma Center, left, and Robin Wittenstein, acting president and CEO of UMDNJ in Newark, center, get a visit from Quadir Hutchins and his father Kevin during a week of giving thanks.
"It’s back to normalcy now," said his father, Kevin, 47. "He plays, he runs, he goes to school -- he’s doing all the stuff the other kids do."

Apart from a long crescent-shaped scar on the right side of Quadir’s head, there were no visible signs that just more than two years ago in that same center, a bullet lay stuck in his skull, his arms and mouth were riddled with tubes and his chances of life remote.

Quadir returned to the trauma center for the first time since his surgeries to thank the hospital staff and show off his remarkable comeback.

Maria Santos, 30, who was injured in a separate Newark shooting, while two months pregnant, joined the father and son at a hospital ceremony to honor those who saved her life.

One of only three Level 1 trauma centers in the state, the hospital receives victims suffering critical injuries from northern New Jersey who need intense and time-sensitive care.

"Because of what you do, instead of talking about the lives we lose in shootings, we can talk about the lives you save," said Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow, addressing a room full of hospital staff and paramedics.

Both Santos and Hutchins were unintended victims.

Santos was walking down the street when gunfire erupted during a street scuffle five years ago.

A bullet landed in her abdomen, where it remains today, only inches from her baby.

"I had 44 staples but my baby survived," said Santos, who named her child Faith, now 4. "She asks me now why I got shot -- "Why? Why? Why?" -- and she says, ‘Those are bad people, but I’m here.’"

The hospital reunion also brought together doctors and prosecutors who marveled at how much taller Quadir had grown.

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerMaria Santos was pregnant with her daughter Faith, now 4, when she was shot. The bullet missed her baby by a fraction of an inch. Santos smiles as she holds Fait and talks with hospital staff."He was the youngest victim I ever had, one of the worst injured," said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Gigi M. Scoles. "It’s great to see he turned into a normal 6-year-old."

Scoles helped convict Taron Johnson, who fired a machine gun at a car carrying Quadir, his sister Latasha Barnes and her boyfriend, Shaquan Murphy, the shooter’s target.

Johnson’s bullets hit Quadir, who underwent several surgeries to mend his skull, which was shattered.

The Star-Ledger chronicled Quadir’s recuperation last year.

Forced to wear a foam helmet to protect his head, Quadir endured stares from classmates and concerns about a lifetime of anxiety attacks and insomnia.

"We don’t operate on a lot of children, and even then, we don’t do brain surgery on them," said Dr. David Livingston, the trauma center’s director.

But Quadir’s father, Kevin, reports a near-flawless recovery.

The state Victims of Crime Compensation Agency, which helps offset medical and counseling costs, took care of the medical bills.

Now in kindergarten at 14th Avenue School, Quadir chimed in that his favorite part of the day was playing games, especially Spiderman, where a group of kids plot to catch "the bad guys."

"He’s healthy," his father said. "He probably had fewer side-effects than I did."