In the sunshine of a crisp, fall day, on The University of New Mexico campus, a beautiful young woman sitting on a bench in her medical scrubs smiles and laughs. Her face lights up as she talks about her future, her plans to one day become a nurse. While every student has their own unique story for wanting to pursue a career in health care, Sonia Brito’s journey is much different.
It started the night she nearly died. She was just 16 years old.
In March of 2020, Brito went to her cousin’s house for a sleepover. That night during a small gathering at the home, an argument broke out over music; it ended with a group of four teens opening fire. Brito, her cousin, and two others were hit multiple times.
“I was shot 12 times in my right leg, my left arm and my right arm, as well as my right ribcage and my right eye,” Brito said. Brito’s cousin was shot 18 times. Both were rushed to UNM Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
“I remember being woken up by bright lights and large teams surrounding me asking me several questions about myself, my family,” she said.
In those first few moments at the hospital, Brito said there was just one thing she wanted.
“My mom,” Brito said. “I was thinking about my mom and where she was and when she was going to be there.”
When Brito’s mom arrived, terrified for her little girl, her baby, she was warned by the team at UNM Hospital to brace herself for her daughter’s appearance and her condition. The injuries were severe and extensive.
“I didn't know what to expect,” Michelle Silva said with tears in her eyes. All she knew was that she needed to be with her daughter.
When I first put my eyes on her, my little girl, she comforted me. Her first words were ‘Mom, I'm okay. This is gonna be okay. We're all gonna be alright.’ She didn't let me ask her first.”
“When I first put my eyes on her, my little girl, she comforted me,” Silva said holding back tears. “Her first words were ‘Mom, I'm okay. This is gonna be okay. We're all gonna be alright.’ She didn't let me ask her first.”
A caregiver by nature, 16-year-old Brito immediately wanted her mom to be soothed, to know she was going to be ok.
“Just to hear her speaking coherently was enormous. In that moment, just to hear her voice, and speaking, was huge,” Silva said. “And I believed her.”
Also, at the hospital that night was, Rachel Davis, MD, ophthalmologist at UNM Hospital.
“I first met her back in the pre-operation area going into the operating room,” Davis said. “I looked at the CT scan of the injury to her face and around her eye. One bullet was very close, within millimeters, of rupturing her eye completely and the trauma to her eyelid was extensive.”
That night Brito needed immediate surgery around her right eye, as well as several other surgeries due to the severity of her injuries. She spent the next two weeks at UNM Hospital.
“I took it each day at a time,” Brito said. “I had lots of injuries, and I was trying to heal from each of those injuries individually, just starting with one thing at a time.”
During her time at the hospital, Brito said she was overwhelmed with the kindness and care she received from her health care team. She remembers a nurse who washed and braided her hair.
My hair was solid with blood. She took the time to wash it, and it took several buckets to get the water clean and to get my hair unknotted. She took the time to do so even through her busy schedule. It made me feel more human.
“My hair was solid with blood,” Brito said. “She took the time to wash it, and it took several buckets to get the water clean and to get my hair unknotted. She took the time to do so even through her busy schedule. It made me feel more human.”
Nurses did the same for her cousin.
“They did her hair as well. And she has very tight, coily, hair- much different than the texture of mine and they braided her hair. It would have been just completely knotted if they would have left it be.”
Brito said the nurses also prioritized her relationship with her cousin during their entire stay, ensuring the girls remained connected during their time at UNM Hospital—even though the two were being treated by different teams on different floors.
“My nurses went out of their way to take me to the level that my cousin was staying on, so that I could see her,” Brito said. “It’s something that we needed for our care. They were so patient with our plentiful FaceTime calls to each other,” she said laughing.
Brito’s mother said it was the moments both big and small that made the difference at the hospital for both her and her daughter; from interactions with everyone from the cleaning staff to nurses to surgeons.
She got fantastic medical care. Everybody was professional, everyone was experts in what they were doing. We had all the faith in the world in that, but it was also just the small moments like having conversations about nothing related to what was happening to her, but just keeping those little human moments, to give her 30 seconds to think about something different.”
“She got fantastic medical care,” Silva said. “Everybody was professional, everyone was experts in what they were doing. We had all the faith in the world in that, but it was also just the small moments like having conversations about nothing related to what was happening to her, but just still keeping those little human moments, to give her 30 seconds to think about something different.”
But it wasn’t just Brito and her mother who were impressed by her care. Brito’s health care team was impressed by her.
“She was so mature for her age, so intelligent both emotionally and intellectually” Davis said. “With everything she went through, Sonia could stay positive which is just an amazing thing to see.”
“I think it's a blessing from God really,” Brito said. “I feel like it's come naturally. And then in times that it hasn't, I've spent a lot of time journaling and meditating and really trying work up the positivity that may be buried at times.”
It’s that positivity and because of her care at UNM Hospital, that Brito made an important decision about her life while she was there-- to become a nurse.
“I had such incredible care, I felt like it was on my shoulders to help people the way that I was helped,” Brito said. “I feel like I have healing energy.”
Her mother is not surprised at all.
“Sonia has had this caring heart from the day she was born,” Silva said. “When she was just two or three years old, she had empathy. She was already caring about other people and wanted to make sure people were included, and her friends had what they needed. It’s so funny because you're so focused on the ABCs and learning numbers at that time and Sonia was just on a whole other level.”
Now a nursing student at Central New Mexico College (CNM), Brito is planning to apply to the BSN dual degree program at UNM. She hopes to start her career as a nurse in the emergency room, helping patients just like her when they need it most.
“I feel like I'm going to be compassionate and really think of different care strategies outside of the box, especially those that pertain to each individual situation,” Brito said.
She continues to deal with the effects of her injuries and will likely need treatment for the rest of her life. Her cousin continues to heal as well. Brito said she will never forget the team at UNM Hospital who saved her life and changed her life.
“I thank them for everything they did, from my care to their compassion to how well they handled my large, worried family,” she said smiling. “I'm forever grateful for the care that they've provided me. I hope that one day I can be as impactful to other people as they were for me.”
Her mother knows she will.
“She’s going to make impacts consistently. She's going to be incredible. She's incredible at everything that she does,” Silva said. “I think she's going to change the world.”