Pregnant teen left paralysed after being shot during robbery linked to Snapchat meeting

Pregnant teen left paralysed after being shot during robbery linked to Snapchat meeting Angel Jones, who is from Ohio, was just 26 weeks pregnant when she was shot during an alleged robbery linked to Snapchat, leaving her paralysed and in premature labour A pregnant 18-year-old has been left paralysed after she was shot during an armed robbery while meeting someone she had connected with on Snapchat. Angel Jones was 26 weeks pregnant when the shooting left her with life-changing injuries sending her into premature labour. Doctors are now working to keep her unborn baby in the womb for as long as possible, while uncertainty remains over whether she will ever walk again. According to police reports, Angel and her 19-year-old boyfriend travelled to Greenway Avenue in Toledo, Ohio, to meet a person they had connected with online through Snapchat when a man dressed in black approached the couple’s vehicle in an attempt to rob them at gunpoint. The suspect is believed to have pointed a firearm at the boyfriend and demanded money. A struggle then broke out, with the boyfriend telling police he attempted to push the weapon away during the confrontation. The gun fired and the bullet struck Angel, according to investigators. The bullet narrowly missed her unborn baby but shattered her arm, tearing through her chest and causing a severe spinal injury that left her paralysed from the waist down. The gunshot also sent the expectant mother into premature labour at just 26 weeks into her pregnancy. In a GoFundMe appeal launched to help cover Angel’s recovery and future care, her mother Brandy Jones described the horrifying moment her daughter was shot. She said: “We need the world to know about the incredible bravery of Angel’s boyfriend. “During the robbery, the gunman pulled the trigger while holding the weapon directly to his head. In a desperate act to protect his pregnant girlfriend, he fought back and tried to wrestle the gun away from the attacker. The gunman fired to kill him, but missed, and the bullet shattered Angel’s arm and tore into her chest instead.” Describing the severity of her daughter’s injuries, Brandy said: “The bullet shattered Angel’s arm, traveled directly into her chest, and lodged there before surgeons could remove it. The blast injury from the gunfire caused a devastating fracture to her 12th vertebra, leaving her spinal cord severely traumatized. “Right now, Angel is completely paralyzed from the waist down with zero movement in her legs. Doctors are entirely unsure if she will ever walk again.” Brandy said the situation has been especially difficult for Angel, as paralysis had always been one of her fears, she said: "Her absolute biggest fear in life has always been paralysis. Now, she is facing that reality while under immense stress, worrying constantly about how she will care for her newborn baby from a wheelchair." Brandy said the trauma sent Angel into early labour and that doctors had been working around the clock to slow her contractions. She said: “While they have managed to gap them out, they are treating this as an emergency situation where the baby will likely be born very early. Angel is being given aggressive medications to rapidly develop her baby boy’s brain and lungs. “He currently weighs just 1 pound, 9 ounces. Every single day he stays inside her is a miracle.” Due to her pregnancy, Angel’s options for pain relief are limited. She is unable to take anti-inflammatories or certain steroids and has not been able to eat since Saturday despite being awake and speaking, according to the GoFundMe. The GoFundMe has been set at $50,000 (£37,290) in a bid to “completely overhaul” Angel and her family’s lives. According to the fundraiser, the money would help pay for accessible modifications to her parent's property, adaptive parenting support, living and medical expenses, as well as a cash reward for information that could help bring those responsible to justice.