Dreia Davis' life was flipped upside down in August 2009, when, at the age of 13, she was shot in the face in a drive-by shooting on Detroit's east side.
In the aftermath, Davis suffered two heart attacks and a stroke and had to undergo multiple surgeries. Her prognosis for survival wasn't good.
However, now, the Detroit Free Press reports, Davis and her dad, Curtis White, have a new lease on life. On Wednesday, Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, a nonprofit Christian service organization, gifted them with a lift van and a disability-friendly, fully furnished home.
"It's so beautiful," Davis said when she saw her new home. "I'm so thankful. I feel fabulous."
"I'm speechless," her dad added, according to the site. "Oh, this is perfect. I love it. I am so overwhelmed. This is a blessing. I'm ready to move in. This is the best feeling in the world."
Davis and White's new home has two bedrooms, a large basement, a kitchen and a dining room. The bathroom was upgraded so that Davis could fit her wheelchair and care for herself without assistance. The home's accessibility will give Davis more independence overall and should enable her father to get more rest. White has been used to getting up and checking on Davis during the night because their old home just wasn't equipped to handle her needs.
"This all means so much," Davis said. "But I just want to thank my daddy so much for sticking by my side. I love you, Daddy."
White will have to pay taxes and utilities and maintain the house, but he is the owner.
"It is so exciting," said Chad Audi, president of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, which donated the van and the house to the family. "I'm so excited that she gains her freedom and her dignity. It is her house and her dad's house forever. … We are thankful to God that we are finally able to give this deserving family a home."
While the shooting took its toll on Davis, she hasn't lost sight of her goals, which now include working on walking again. Davis currently attends Jerry L. White Center High school and is set to graduate in 2016. She then plans to enroll in studies at the Wayne County Community College District, ultimately hoping to become a lawyer. As for walking, for which she begins therapy soon, she's set the date for Feb. 2, 2017.
"I want to walk when I'm 21," the bright teen shared with the Free Press.
"Everything I've done is just a testament of my love. Doctors told me she wouldn't make it; then they said she wouldn't make it past a few years. But here she is today. Look at her now. She beat those odds six years later. The world is hers now. She's going to walk. She's made it this far," White said.
Read more at USA Today.