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The help is out there, though. Horton is a member of a support group for people left with paralysis from shootings. Disability Pride Philadelphia also hosts panels about how to live with disabilities, as well as happy hour and networking events.

The outreach might be more important than ever as more people are being affected by gun violence every day, which Horton thinks has led people to become desensitized to the epidemic.

Last year, cities across the country, including Philadelphia, saw a surge in gun violence. Medical experts have posited the social isolation and elevated stress levels caused by pandemic mitigation efforts put more people at risk for gun violence.

Still, even as COVID-19 vaccinations have vastly reduced the spread of the virus, allowing the region to inch toward a new normal, the city is outpacing 2020s shootings and homicides.

As of Sunday, June 20, the last date for which data is available, Philadelphia recorded 244 homicides a 30% increase from the same time last year. Shooting victims exceeded 950 people, a 23% increase from the same time in 2020. Gun violence was the leading cause of death among young Black and Latino men in Philadelphia in 2020, according to the city.

I really want to reach people picking up [guns] because I want to stop this from happening to somebody else, so I can stop having to help people, said Leon Harris, another gun violence survivor living in Delaware. He suffered his spinal cord injury in Upper Darby during an armed robbery.

I dont want to have to keep helping newly injured young men or newly injured young women, said Harris. I dont want to have to, you know, help them figure out their new normal. I would like to reach the person with the gun before this even gets to that point.

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Using hashtags, gun violence survivors living with disabilities want to share their stories - WHYY