How Forgiveness Helped Hashim Garrett Thrive After Paralysis | NancyTalk 7

After being shot and paralyzed at 15, Hashim Garrett faced anger, grief, revenge, and the difficult work of rebuilding his life. In this NancyTalk, he shares how forgiveness, faith, community, education, and service helped him transform trauma into purpose. Hashim is a social worker, author, entrepreneur, and member of a research team at Kessler. He is the author of How to Fall Up: 14 Lessons in Resilience from the Lives of Young People. Through his work in violence prevention and youth outreach, he has spent decades helping young people understand trauma, conflict, choices, and the possibility of a different future. Hashim’s message is not that forgiveness erases what happened. Forgiveness is a lifelong practice—and often, the hardest person to forgive is yourself. He also explains why community, faith, generosity, and being present for others can become essential tools for healing. CONTENT NOTE This talk includes discussion of gun violence, domestic abuse, traumatic injury, revenge, suicidal thoughts, and a near-death experience. ABOUT HASHIM GARRETT Hashim Garrett is a social worker, author, entrepreneur, speaker, and member of a research team at Kessler. His work centers on resilience, violence prevention, forgiveness, youth development, and helping people turn adversity into purpose. ABOUT NANCYTALK NancyTalk shares honest, practical, and hopeful conversations about disability, independence, accessibility, rehabilitation, community, relationships, work, recreation, and building a meaningful life. NancyTalk is presented by the Nancy Lieberman Back-to-Life Center at Mount Sinai. CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome and introduction 1:13 Meet Hashim Garrett 2:34 Childhood in Brooklyn 3:14 Eviction and sudden instability 4:53 Domestic violence and hidden trauma 6:05 Anger and self-destructive choices 8:19 Trauma bonding and risky behavior 9:47 His mother’s warning 10:44 Plans to leave Brooklyn 11:43 The shooting on May 7, 1990 14:43 Praying not to die 16:43 The ambulance and emergency response 18:22 A near-death experience 20:36 Emergency treatment and the ICU 23:26 Revenge, despair, and paralysis 24:27 Police identify the shooter 25:49 Another shooting becomes a turning point 27:41 Faith, the Bible, and listening to his mother 28:54 Dr. Gold and finding a safer place to rebuild 31:13 Kessler, rehabilitation, and education 31:48 Rutgers and losing direction 32:41 A phone call that revealed his purpose 34:37 Rise Above It and speaking to students 35:48 Teaching violence prevention 37:23 Learning to forgive 38:01 Officer Steven McDonald’s influence 38:52 Forgiving the shooter, his friends, and himself 40:13 Changing the meaning of “Why me?” 41:00 Graduation, authorship, and fatherhood 42:22 A message for clinicians and caregivers 43:16 Forgiveness, community, faith, and generosity 46:15 Why forgiveness is lifelong 47:14 Reflections and audience Q&A 49:03 Opening up and finding therapy through speaking 50:34 Parenting with a disability 52:51 Reaching angry and traumatized young people 55:16 Building trust and creating safe spaces 57:44 The ongoing work of forgiving yourself 1:02:16 A fellow gunshot survivor responds 1:03:51 How Hashim’s parents stayed strong 1:06:15 Closing WATCH AND FOLLOW Subscribe to NancyTalk:    / @nancytalk   Learn about the Nancy Lieberman Back-to-Life Center: https://reports.mountsinai.org/articl... Instagram:   / back2lifenyc   Facebook:   / back2lifenyc   Threads: https://www.threads.net/@back2lifenyc X: https://x.com/Back2LifeNYC Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/back2lifenyc... #NancyTalk #HashimGarrett #Forgiveness