Ralph Yarl recently stepped out for an event that hit close to home as he recovers from being shot last month.
On Memorial Day (May 29), Yarl’s loved ones joined him at a brain injury awareness event in Kansas City, Missouri. Together, they walked with other survivors at Going the Distance for Brain Injury. According to The Associated Press, the annual holiday race takes place at Loose Park. Cleo Nagbe, Yarl’s mother, spoke to the public ahead of the walk.
“It takes a community. It takes a family,” she said before adding, “It takes a support group. All of that. Let’s raise more awareness to stop the things that cause brain injuries and should not be causing them, especially gun violence.”
Photo I took of #RalphYarl and his aunt Faith at a run for brain injury that Ralph and nearly 20 of his family and friends attended in Kansas City. This was Ralph’s first public event after being shot when he mistook a white man’s house for his brothers’ friend’s home. pic.twitter.com/s4UsRuYeQY
— Tesfaye Negussie (@TesNeg) May 30, 2023
Among the nearly 1,000 race participants, many wore neon green T-shirts after registering to be a part of “Team Ralph.” “It’s important for Ralph to see that he is not alone,” Faith Spoonmore, Yarl’s aunt, added. She noted the 17-year-old struggled both mentally and emotionally since the shooting.
On April 13, Yarl’s life changed when he attempted to pick up his younger brothers in his neighborhood. After mistakenly ringing the doorbell of the wrong house, he was shot once in the head and once in the arm. Per the Kansas City Star, Yarl suffered suffered a traumatic brain injury from the shooting.
The suspect, homeowner Andrew Lester, was questioned but later released. After the news spread nationwide, sparking protests, charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action were filed. Lester, 84, surrendered to authorities days later and Yarl was released from the hospital.
Since then, Yarl has lived with his aunt out of fear of returning to the neighborhood. As previously mentioned, Spoonmore spoke with NBC 41 about her nephew’s condition. “It’s just hard to explain how he really is doing,” she said. “The events that happened on April 13, Ralph spoke about it one time. And that was in the hospital. And since then, Ralph has not spoken about that event with anybody else.”