NORFOLK, Va. — Dozens of health care workers gathered outside of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, CHKD and EVMS to bring awareness to gun violence.
Friday is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and a sea of orange shirts filled the grassy area of the medical center park as part of bringing more attention to the issue locally.
Gun violence is not just a national issue but impacts us all here in Hampton Roads.
At Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Chief Operating Officer Christopher Pierson said last year alone they saw 579 patients for gunshot wounds, assaults and stabbings.
That's more than one patient treated a day.
While the number may appear high, Pierson said in 2023 they had fewer violent injuries than they did in 2022.
He also said that for 2024, they are on track to treat less violent injuries than last year.
So far this year six children have been treated for gunshot wounds at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk.
One child unfortunately died from those injuries.
One of the latest shootings in Hampton Roads killed a 15-year-old girl at Mt. Trashmore in Virginia Beach.
"It makes me mad because kids can't be kids anymore, you know," Steven Davis, the father of Landyn Davis, said. "That happened at a carnival, you're supposed to go to a carnival to have fun not to get involved in something tragic like that. It's just ruining our lives every day when something like this happens."
Steven's son Landyn is now a survivor of gun violence.
We've followed Landyn's story since the beginning when he was hit by a stray bullet that went into his home in Virginia Beach while he was playing video games earlier this year.
Landyn was released from the hospital back in May, but now his family has come back to CHKD to tell their story in hopes it won't happen to another family.
"You see it pop up on your phone through the news sites every single day and you're like 'wow another one like this is getting bad,'" Emily Rigsby, Landyn's mom, said. "You never think that it will happen to you or your family, but it could happen to anybody."
Watch: CHKD helped Landyn Davis go home, but a long rehab road ahead awaits
When it comes to reducing gun violence there's not one solution.
However, both hospitals have programs in place to provide resources to victims as they recover.
For Sentara Norfolk General Hospital the program is called Foresight.
CHKD offers what is called Safer Futures which helps children return to school, go with families to court, and help to identify repeat risk factors to make sure the violence doesn't continue.
Watch: Teen girl shot to death outside Mt. Trashmore carnival was a Virginia Beach student
"Being able to work with these families and be alongside them, down in the valley and to kind of work with them to help them get back up to that mountain top," Kamron Blue with Safer Futures, said. "That's what we're here for."
