It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. John Eric Nowell, his wife Ovella, and their eighteen year old son, Grant, would soon be sitting down to Easter supper in their Charlotte, NC home. John was watching television and Ovella was going upstairs when Grant announced he was running over to a friend’s house before they ate. He assured them he would be right back. Forty-five minutes later the phone rang sending Ovella sprinting down the stairs. In that short span of time, life as the Nowell family had known it, no longer existed.
John is the lease owner of truck 2811F. In October of 2008 he joined his uncle, also named John, at National Carriers. Working as a 48 state driver, John Erik, always makes time for his family. With his oldest son living in Washington, DC , spending time with his wife and youngest son is a high priority. She is a nurse at the Carolina Medical Center and he attends a local University.
Grant Nowell is a student at the University of NC- Charlotte. Having had an outstanding high school football career, Grant found himself without a football scholarship when inquiring schools found he was less than six feet tall, however UNC Charlotte offered a full ride track scholarship. His running abilities were soon recognized as he was named to the Atlantic 10 All Conference freshman team. On that fateful Easter day, the conference track championship was one week away. Earlier that month, Grambling State University in La. had offered and Grant had accepted, a full ride scholarship to play football for the Tigers in the fall.
As Ovella thrust the phone into John’s hand he could tell by her expression something was amiss. Grant was on the phone telling his dad he’d been shot. When asked where he was, Grant was not able to give his location. John hung up and called the police. They instructed John to call his son back and have Grant call 911 so they could track the call thus alerting the authorities to his location. Grant did as he was instructed and soon the police called giving his parents a general area from which the call originated. Quickly, the Nowell’s left in search of their son.
Six miles from their family home, John and Ovella found their son. The police had arrived minutes earlier to find Grant had been shot twice. He had driven two miles from the crime scene before collapsing. As he was whisked off to the same hospital that his mother worked in, paramedics kept him alive as the doctors prepared the emergency room for his arrival. Once there, his heart stopped three times and the doctors miraculously were able to restart it each time. The bullet through his thigh was minor compared to the one that pierced a vein returning to his heart. The same bullet collapsed his lungs and remained lodged inside his body.
The assailant was captured near the crime scene. Police stated Grant had arrived at his friend’s house only to find him not home. As young Nowell prepared to drive away, the recently released career criminal approached the driver side window of the car. What happened next is best described as a failed robbery attempt that resulted in the thug firing seven bullets at Grant, two of which found their mark. Attempting to escape the gunfire, Grant had driven away where he called home and the police before collapsing.
Today, John and Ovella’s son clings to life in his hospital bed. With 75% blood loss to his brain, Grant remains in a coma. Pneumonia attacks his fragile lungs as a ventilator assists with his breathing. Since Easter Day, he has been operated on eleven times. The amount of brain damage has not been determined. Experts at the Brain Institute say progress in the first 30 days is a good indicator of the level of permanent recovery and after 6 months the patient normally will remain in that state indefinitely.
The Nowell’s are taking a wait and see approach. Doctors have said it is a miracle that Grant has lived through the attack. They attribute his outstanding physical condition and will to live as the driving force behind his still being alive. The entire NCI family stands beside John and his wife as they navigate these tragic waters.
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