Help Cassandra After Surviving a Gunshot Wound During an Attempted Carjacking in Tijuana.
About a month ago, I was driving home from one of my favorite places, feeling inspired about the future. I never imagined I would be fighting for my life before I made it back home.
I’d spent a couple of days in Rosarito, a little beach town just south of Tijuana where I love to go with my golden retriever, Ellie. It’s one of my favorite places to slow down, reconnect with my mission, unlock my creativity to write, and dream about how I can help even more people through the coaching business I’ve spent the last two years building.
To get home to San Diego, you have to drive through Tijuana. It’s a trip I’ve driven many times before.
This time, I had to come home in an ambulance.
I was the victim of a violent attempted carjacking, and during the attack, the gunman fired multiple shots, into my vehicle and at me.
One bullet entered through my driver’s side window, traveled through my car, and exited through the passenger door.
A second bullet went through my lower leg, shattering both my tibia and fibula before exiting the other side hitting my ankle. I was then thrown from my vehicle out into the street…
I was losing blood SO FAST.
I am incredibly lucky to be alive.
My first thought wasn’t about if I was hurt... Adrenaline has a beautiful way of acting as a painkiller.
It was when I looked up and realized , “Oh my God… Ellie’s still in the backseat of the car.” Her little face peaking out of the drivers side back window.
When I tried to run to her I collapsed realizing all the bones in my leg had been completely broken by the gunshot and I had no ability to walk. Thankfully, I kept yelling her name and she jumped out of the window and ran to me.
Two women I’ve never met, came running to me from across the street, some traffic was stopped and some just driving around me.
I finally realized one of the ladies was calling paramedics and the other was comforting me as she was tying a makeshift tourniquet around my leg.
I was first taken by ambulance to an emergency room in Tijuana to stop the bleeding, then transferred to the border where we called 911 and US paramedics picked me up and took me to Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego for immediate surgery and antibiotics.
I spent ten days in the trauma center, all together underwent four surgeries, and now have a metal plate, a rod and multiple screws in my leg. I am not able to walk as I am non-weight bearing for minimum 12 weeks… beginning what will be a long road of healing, physical therapy, and learning how to walk again.
The hardest part of recovery hasn’t just been the physical pain. It’s losing my independence.
Simple things I never had to think twice about, getting down my stairs to go outside, walking Ellie, making breakfast, taking a shower safely, carrying anything, everything now requires planning, assistance, or isn’t possible at all.
My days are spent with my leg elevated, focused on minimizing pain and healing. The medication I need to manage the pain also means I can’t show up for my coaching clients in the way they deserve, so my business has been placed on hold while I recover.
Losing the ability to do the work I love has been one of the hardest parts of this.
After leaving a 10-year career in tech, I spent two years rebuilding my own life before officially launching my coaching business. Through my own healing journey, I discovered my passion for helping others regulate their nervous systems, expand their capacity, and begin believing in themselves again.
Watching someone realize that the limitations they’ve been living under aren’t permanent, and seeing them step into a bigger version of themselves is one of the greatest privileges of my life.
I built my life around supporting people move beyond their biggest blocks.
I never imagined that one day I would need to ask others to help carry me through mine…
Asking for help does not come naturally to me.
But healing has reminded me that resilience isn’t about carrying everything alone. Sometimes resilience means allowing others to carry you for a little while.
The financial impact of this attack has been overwhelming.
Because I cannot work while I recover, my income has come to a complete stop just as my expenses have multiplied.
My vehicle remains in an evidence lot in Tijuana while attorneys work through the legal process required to have it released.
Storage fees continue to accumulate, and once it is released, it will need to be transported back to the United States and repaired after sustaining significant damage during the shooting.
In addition to ongoing medical treatment,
rehab and recovery, I have legal expenses, transportation challenges, housing costs, and need help caring for Ellie while I recover, plus there’s tons of unexpected financial burdens that follow surviving a violent crime in another country.
The LIGHT through all of this, one constant source of comfort… has been my dog Ellie.
Ellie is my almost two year old Golden Retriever (birthday is July 28!). She’s ridiculously friendly, goofy, and genuinely believes every person she meets is already her best friend.
I named her after another golden retriever whose work as a therapy dog inspired me years ago. Long before any of this happened, I dreamed that one day Ellie and I would volunteer together to bring comfort to people going through difficult moments.
During this experience, she somehow did exactly that.
Ellie rode with me in the ambulance from the crime scene to the hospital in Tijuana, where folks at the ER cared for her at the ambulance entrance while I underwent surgery. She then traveled with me across the border in another ambulance to San Diego, where she patiently waited while I underwent additional emergency surgery.
The EMTs, nurses, and hospital staff continually commented on her calm, gentle presence. They encouraged me to have her trained and certified as a therapy dog so that, once I’m healthy again, we can give back, bringing comfort to people experiencing trauma, hospitalization, and some of life’s most difficult moments, just as SO many people brought comfort to us.
That future vision has become one of the brightest parts of my recovery.
This experience has shown me the extraordinary kindness of people I had never met. First the strangers on the street in Tijuana that quite literally saved my life, to the EMT responders, nurses, surgeons, my family and friends, so many that have carried me through the darkest chapter of my life.
Their compassion has reminded me that even in the aftermath of violence, humanity has an incredible capacity for goodness. Their kindness is the reason I’m able to focus on healing today.
Your support will help me rebuild the life that was interrupted by this act of violence.
It will help cover the essential costs of recovery, including housing, rehabilitation, transportation, legal expenses, recovering my vehicle, caring for Ellie, and the financial reality of being unable to work while I heal.
If we are fortunate enough to exceed my immediate recovery needs, my hope is to begin Ellie’s journey toward becoming a certified therapy dog so that together we can spend years bringing comfort to people experiencing trauma, crisis, and recovery, just as so many people did for us.
None of us expects to become the person who needs help.
I certainly didn’t.
If my story resonates with you, thank you for helping me through this. Every donation, every share, and every kind message reminds me that even after an act of violence, compassion is stronger.
When I’m back on my feet, I’ll be able to pay that compassion forward both through my work as a coach and alongside Ellie as a certified therapy dog.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping me rebuild. I will never forget the kindness you have shown me.
With so much gratitude,
Cassandra
Updates: I’ll continue sharing updates throughout my recovery so everyone who supports me can follow my progress… from healing milestones and physical therapy to, hopefully, the day Ellie and I begin our therapy dog journey together.
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