A young man critically injured in a Wisconsin school shooting in December of last year is on the road to recovery. 

14-year-old River Clardy was left fighting for his life after a 15-year-old girl opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin on Dec. 16, 2024. 

The shooting left three people, including the shooter, dead and six others injured, two with critical injuries. 

Clardy’s mother, Christina, worked as a teacher in the school. She says the first thing on her mind was to keep her students safe. Once the students were safe, her next task was to make sure her son and two daughters, who also attended the school, were uninjured. 

She was quickly able to locate her daughters, but her son was nowhere to be found.

Officers later informed the Clardy family that River had been shot multiple times and had been taken to hospital.

It was there they learned that River had suffered serious injuries, including a gunshot wound to his Carotid artery and the back of his throat.

The family says they prayed over him regularly, with friends and family joining in daily. A public vigil in Madison on December 17 brought together hundreds of area believers to pray. 

It took weeks for River to recover, but the family says it’s thanks to God and his faith that he is alive today.

“We believe that God is a huge part of his healing through natural means like through the body healing itself and through some things that you know aren’t explainable to us. But he is, he’s done better than he should have,” said Christina in an interview with WAGM.

River was released from the hospital 46 days after arriving and continues to recover at home. 

This article was originally published by CHVN Radio. 

Journalist Colleen Houde is a news writer and on-air host at CHVN in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.