Help, I’m Shot!

Carl Jacobs is co-owner of a check-cashing service in one of Baltimore’s dreariest neighborhoods. He is driving along a major highway with $85,000 in his car. Suddenly, before reaching the exit ramp, Carl is pursued, confronted, and shot twice by a would-be robber. Eleven years later, Carl is still affected by this terrifying moment. Now in this riveting personal testimony, he describes how he came to terms with the resulting trauma. The nightmare of the attack provides him with the motivation and inspiration to write in detail about his frustrations, his multiple therapies, his failures, and his victories. In the end, readers learn about his pain and discipline-and his personal power leading to a more adjusted and rewarding life. This is my story of my pain and recovery, he tells us. The only way to tell it adequately is to recall the details as I remember them, although sometimes seemingly vulgar, over these past eleven years. Now I want readers to understand that with the right support network that keeps you in a positive frame of mind, you can recover from the most disastrous invasions of your life and health. And you can live to write about it.