PHF MAGAZINE APRIL 2021 - SPRING ISSUE

By Claire Lampen More than two years ago, an Atlanta woman went to the hospital, complaining about a strange set of symptoms: bad headaches, memory loss, and impaired communication. Nicole Gordon suspected her issues stemmed from a car accident the month before, but the actual culprit was a bullet doctors found buried in the base of her skull. Turns out, her boyfriend shot her, and she had no idea.

According to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, Gordon’s friend brought her to the Atlanta Medical Center on June 25, 2017. After learning about the bullet, Gordon told investigators about an argument she and her then-boyfriend, Jerrontae Cain, got into the month before. She said they’d been fighting in her car when the driver’s side window shattered, showering her in glass shards. Gordon passed out, but when she came to, she found herself in Cain’s car. She next awoke at Cain’s mother’s house, with a head wound she thought came from the broken window.