JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two months after a mass shooting at the Eureka Gardens apartment complex, one mother is still fighting to get out of the Intensive Care Unit and back to her two children.
When 20-year-old Jessica Nelson was rushed to the UF Health Jacksonville emergency room with gunshot wounds in August, doctors weren't sure she was going to make it.
Jessica said she wasn't sure either.
“I thought I was dying,” she told News4Jax recently from her hospital bed. “I really didn’t think that I would ever see my family again.”
Jessica, who was shot multiple times in the stomach, has been through more than a dozen surgeries, but she doesn't remember most of them -- or the warm August night that landed her in the hospital.
"I woke up and for a second I didn’t know where I was," Jessica said. "When I realized I was in the hospital and seeing how bad it was, it was hard. But it’s getting better."
VIDEO: Extended interview with Eureka Gardens mass shooting survivor
Jessica and her family were sitting outside her Eureka Gardens apartment when police said three people opened fire on the group and she and six other people were wounded. No arrests have been made.
Jessica's 2-year-old daughter escaped a bullet when her husband, John “Scotty” Lowman, jumped in front of the little girl and was grazed by a bullet as he rushed her to safety.
“I looked down at my daughter and she looked at me, and I just went straight for her, opened the door, and took her in the house,” Lowman said. “My mind was so wrapped around making sure she wasn’t hurt.”
Once Lowman knew their daughter was OK, he turned around to see everyone else.
“For me to look around the room and see so much blood, and to see my whole family hanging in front of my face, oh boy,” Lowman said.
Jessica has had some setbacks -- her blood pressure recently dropped to 50 over 30, which is dangerously low -- but she is making progress toward finally going home.
Doctors said she lost 5 liters of blood and her injuries were complex. They said surviving such wounds is rare.
“It’s remarkable to think how far she's come from near to bleeding to death two months ago to sitting here in a chair and talking to us today,” UF Health Trauma Medical Director Dr. Andy Kerwin said.
Jessica said the most important thing to her is getting home to her husband and their two daughters – and getting justice.
Police are still investigating the crime and ask anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
In the meantime, Jessica's mother is trying to make room for her and her family. Lowman has been sleeping at the hospital with Jessica, and the girls have been staying with his sister.
Lowman said technically they are still living at the same Eureka Gardens apartment where the shooting happened. According to Lowman, the carpet still has blood on it, and there are still bullet holes in the wall.
Jessica's family said that when she asked Eureka Gardens management if they could move to a different unit or Section 8 housing complex, they said that they don't move people and that Jessica should put in her 30-day notice.
In the meantime, Lowman went to the Jacksonville Housing Authority and entered a new application under his name, but he hasn't heard back yet.
News4Jax contacted HUD officials, who said they have a team looking into the family's concerns over the management company. They said they will get back to us when they know more.
Jessica's relatives said they haven't seen the hospital bill for her long ICU stay, and they're nervous about how expensive it's going to be.
They have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to cover the expenses.