Shooting victim Danielle Jameison is working to return to campus soon

Sophomore Danielle Jameison, who was shot in her Greensboro home in January, is taking steps in her return to UNC, which could be as soon as next Monday.

Jameison moved her belongings back into Cobb Residence Hall Saturday. She plans to return to campus once she recovers from a surgery scheduled for Tuesday morning.

She said support from her friends has been essential to her recovery.

“I’ve been very lucky to just have a lot of people around me that are more than willing to talk and listen and have been incredibly supportive emotionally,” she said.

Police called the shooting a murder-homicide. Jameison’s mother, who was found dead at the scene with Jameison’s 14-year-old half-brother, was found to be the sole assailant.

Jameison and the father of her half-brother sustained critical injuries in the shooting.

She said her liver and arm were injured. Doctors have treated her liver, and she said it is almost completely healed.

She said a bullet went through her left arm — which was covering her heart — and hit a nerve that controls movement in some fingers. Her Tuesday surgery will try to restore function.

Jameison has been living with her godparents in Charlotte as well as spending time with her boyfriend, Connor Andrus, a Winston-Salem State University sophomore. She said Andrus and his family have also been taking care of her.

She said the whole experience has taught her to be OK with living day-by-day.

“Initially it sort of seemed like my whole world as I knew it sort of was just — for lack of a better word — destroyed,” she said.

“And I wasn’t really sure what to do and what my next move was because I’m really a planner, and obviously there’s no way to plan for something like this. So I guess I’ve just sort of had to be a lot more willing to not know what the next week or the next month will hold and just be OK with not knowing.”

Sophomore Ashley Brinkman said she is looking forward to Jameison’s return.

“She was my best friend, and we spent so much time together, so it’s been weird without her here,” she said.

Jameison’s roommate, sophomore Rachael Meleney, said she has seen Jameison several times since the shooting.

“She seems to be doing great,” she said. “She’s her bubbly old self and joking around with us and in high spirits.”

Jameison said she has found positivity in her recovery.

“I think the whole situation, even though it kind of seems really negative, has sort of shown me my own capabilities and my own strength that I didn’t really know I had,” she said.

“And also it’s brought out the best in the people closest to me and really allowed me to see how lucky I am in terms of being surrounded by people who are so willing to be there for me.

“So I guess it’s just sort of made everyone show their true colors, and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised about what those true colors are.”

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