INDIANAPOLIS — It takes some prompting, but even the slightest smile from her 19-year-old son Dre is something DeAndra Dycus is thankful for, even if that smile sometimes brings tears to this mother’s eyes.
“Can you give us a smile?” DeAndra asked Dre, as he sits in his wheelchair in the long-term care facility where he now lives.
“As a mom, it never gets any easier seeing my son like that. It’s never easy,” she said.
It’s been that way for just over six years, ever since then-13-year old Dre went to a birthday party and was shot, hit in the head by a stray bullet.
“Before my son went to that birthday party, he hugged me and he said, ‘Mom, I love you,’” DeAndra remembered. “And even though he’s here, I’ve never experienced that ever again, not a hug, not an ‘I love you.’”
Instead, DeAndra made her son a promise as he fought for his life after the shooting.
“I said, ‘Dre, if you just fight through this, if you start breathing on your own, mommy will be your voice,’” DeAndra said.
This week, DeAndra will continue to keep that promise in front of a worldwide audience when she speaks during the Democratic National Convention.
“It’s not just about Dre. It’s about every family impacted by gun violence,”DeAndra explained.
Some of those families live in Indianapolis. DeAndra has met them through her work with groups like Moms Demand Action and Purpose 4 My Pain, advocating for stronger gun safety laws.
“I get angry, and it makes me want to keep fighting and keep advocating,” DeAndra said.
This week’s speech is a part of that mission for Dre, who can no longer speak or walk, but will be watching from his care facility.
“This kind of opportunity, they’re just a reminder, a beautiful bittersweet reminder of me keeping my promise to my son,” DeAndra said.