Arizona mother shot in Las Vegas making ‘miraculous’ recovery

PHOENIX — Jovanna Calzadillas took a bullet to the head during last October’s mass shooting in Las Vegas and wasn’t expected to survive. She was rushed to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

“I remember I spoke to three doctors there,” her husband Frank Calzadillas said. “They all told me the same thing – that there was nothing they could do for Jovanna and that it was a non-survivable injury.”

He said doctors suggested removing her from life support but something told him it wouldn’t be the right path.

“I had a dream that Jovanna visited me,” he said. “She hugged me and kissed me, and she said, ‘Everything is going to be okay.’ I called her mom and I said, ‘We’re keeping Jovanna alive. She’s going to be alright.’”

Now, after spending four months in the hospital, Calzadillas finally gets to go home with her husband and two children. She will leave the Barrow Neurological Institute Thursday.

Jovanna Calzadillas spoke publicly for the first time since the shooting at a news conference on Wednesday. She came in on a wheelchair and greeted reporters as she was lifted onto a chair next to her husband. Her right side was immobile.

She told reporters she felt “strong and positive” and read from prepared statements.

“On Oct. 1, a part of me changed that night,” she said. “Even though I will not be the same Jovanna, I will come back stronger.”

Calzadillas spent several weeks in Las Vegas before she was transferred to the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix on Oct. 19.

Dr. Lindley Bliss was on call when she was transferred and recalled that her prognosis was “pretty grim.” A bullet had gone through the left side of her brain, which drives language and communication.

He said Calzadillas was on a respirator at the time because she couldn’t breathe on her own. She also had feeding tubes and was receiving two powerful medications to control unstable blood pressure and unstable pulse.

Bliss said in the first few weeks, Calzadillas “was more alert than we expected.”

As she continued to improve, she worked with therapists and within weeks was able to begin drinking from a cup and eating again. A medical team worked with Calzadillas on a number of therapies, including occupational and speech therapy, that helped her regain strength and mobility.

“Her progress from the day I first met her is nothing short of miraculous,” Bliss said.

Calzadillas still has a long road of recovery ahead but is determined to keep going. She said her family and her two children are what keep her motivated.

“I will not quit on them, and I will not quit on myself,” she said.

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