ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) – A Missouri man who survived being shot in the head on a first date has released a memoir about the fateful evening and his road to recovery.
Chris Smith, now 52, was shot in the head in November 2021 while on a first date with 45-year-old Leslie Reeves, a woman he’d met online. The two had just returned to Smith’s home when they were both shot, leaving Reeves dead and Smith in a coma.
Investigators would later learn Reeves’ ex-boyfriend, Robert Tarr, followed the two to the home before breaking in and shooting them. Last year, Tarr was sentenced to 85 years in prison by a judge in Montgomery County, Illinois.
After the shooting, Smith’s life changed forever. He was in a coma for nearly two months, suffered two strokes and needed six brain surgeries. The bullet is still lodged in his brain.
“My family was going to pull the plug on me. Doctors told them there was no hope for me. ‘I should be in a coma, on a ventilator, confined to a hospital bed,‘” Smith said. “Heck no!”
More than three years later, Smith is still recovering and remains partially paralyzed on his left side. Years of occupational and physical therapy, combined with a stem cell transplant, have helped him on his journey as he defies the medical odds.
Smith’s experience prompted him to write a book titled “My Fatal First Date,” which details the evening of the shooting and his ongoing recovery.
“It gives you hope, inspires you and shows people that you get shot, even if you get shot in the head, you have a stroke, you have a TBI [traumatic brain injury], your life’s not over,” he said.
Smith hopes to motivate those who have suffered similar injuries, while also providing medical experts with a testimony not found in medical journals.
Over the years, he has gotten engaged, bought a house and is working to return to his old way of life, including singing in his band.
“I’m going to walk again with no cane and no wheelchair. I’m going to run again, and I’m going to play guitar again,” he said. “I’m not the kind of person that’s just going to sit back and do nothing. I want my life back.”
“My Fatal First Date” is now available on Amazon.
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