Mellissa Courchene has defied all odds after surviving being shot in the head.
The shooting happened on July 4 at Courchene’s residence on the Westbank First Nations Reserve where she allegedly got into an argument with her live-in boyfriend Evan Swite.
She says Swite pointed an assault rifle at her face.
The next thing she remembers was falling on her bed with blood coming from her face. The bullet had entered her jaw and came out the back of her neck.
“My whole body went limp and I fell over to the side. And I was lying there. My ears just kept ringing and ringing and I could just feel all my blood gushing out of my face. It almost felt like I was going to drown on it. But then I guess survival mode,” said Courchene.
Survival mode meant keeping calm, keeping her heartbeat low, knowing each one could be her last. She says Swite dialed 911 but couldn’t make the call.
“He got the phone from our neighbour and he came back and couldn’t finish making the call. And he was like: Just wait, just wait and he passed the phone to me. So I was on the phone with the 911 dispatch lady until help arrived,” said Courchene.
Help arrived. Courchene was rushed to intense care and the prognosis wasn’t good. The doctors said that if she survived, her life would never be the same.
“They thought I was going to be a quadriplegic and that I was going to be possibly brain dead and to prepare for the worst,” said Courchene.
But Courchene has somehow not only managed to survive being shot in the head, she’s showing no obvious signs of physical trauma. But the psychological scars are there, something she will have to live with for the rest of her life.
She says forgiveness is not part of her healing process. She wants to see her alleged shooter be held responsible for what he’s allegedly done, but admits that her feelings for the man who almost killed her will always be there.
“I’ll always love him,” said Courchene.
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