Clark Atlanta senior makes comeback after road rage shooting

ATLANTA - Amari Franklin feels happiest when she is behind her sewing machine.

"I get really into it," Franklin says. "I get really quiet and, I try to go as slow as I can, just to make sure I get my stitching correct and my lineup correct."

But getting here, to the 25-year-old's senior year as a fashion design major at Clark Atlanta University, has not been easy.

BJ Arnett, chair of Clark Atlanta's art and fashion department, is Franklin's professor, mentor, and cheerleader.

"She is a totally, totally different woman than she was as a young girl coming in as a freshman," Arnett explains. "Tenacity is what describes this young woman. It's just simple tenacity. And it's been a fight. It's been a fight because she has to do things that other students don't have to do."

Random road rage shooting pauses CAU design student’s plans

Franklin's life changed just before dawn on April 20, 2021.

She was leaving work in Coweta County, after pulling an overnight shift, when, Franklin says, another driver was blocking the exit with his vehicle.

"I went around them, instead of honking my horn, and so, I guess the person in the car didn't like that very much," she says.

The man, a co-worker Franklin had never met, followed her onto Interstate 85 and fired 5 bullets into her car.

"I got hit twice, on my right shoulder and in my left armpit," she says. "And that's what paralyzed me instantly."

One of the bullets hit Franklin's spinal cord in her upper chest.

"I was actually paralyzed from my chest down," she remembers.

Clark Atlanta student begins her comeback

Franklin spent 3 months in the hospital, first at Grady Memorial Hospital, then transferring to Shepherd Center.

During that time, she reached out to her professor.

"She called me from the hospital, and she was in pain, and she was frightened, and she didn't know how to maneuver and get back to going to school," Arnett says.

Franklin says she was struggling.

"I (had) had difficulties with suicide (in the past)," she explains. "So, when this happened, it really triggered it really hard. I didn't want to keep going because I didn't know what my life would be like afterward." 

It took months, but Amari Franklin worked her way back to Clark Atlanta.

"There was no other way for her to go but to fight," Arnett says.

Clark Atlanta senior: ‘God finally showed me’

As she began working on her designs again, something clicked.

"When I finally found my niche, and when God finally showed me, like, why I'm in the chair, it, pushed me to be able to go after this dream to be a fashion designer for people with disabilities, to make them feel comfortable in their skin."

Franklin's physical recovery a work-in-progress.

Amari Franklin, 25, works on her designs at Clark Atlanta University.

She's regained feeling in her legs and feet and is hoping to raise money to spend 6 months with the Bachik Methods program in Dallas, Texas, an intense recovery program that combines elite training with neuroscience.

One of her trainers, Kendell Bachik, is also a spinal cord injury survivor.

"A lot of us attach our identity to what it is that we do," Bachik says. "So when we're paralyzed, that's taken from us. And so, it's really important to tether your identity to what it is that matters to you. And I think that that's the beautiful thing that Amari has done, is she knows what she wants."

It's been almost 3 years since the shooting, and Amari Franklin is proud of the woman and the designer she is becoming.

"It is hard, but, you know, I made it," Franklin says. "I think everyone needs a push, because, if you stay complacent, you can't grow. So, I’m thankful for it."

Franklin created a GoFundMe account to raise funds to return to Bachik Methods. You can read more at northtexasgivingday.org/story/Amari