Chicago area teen, shot and paralyzed years ago, finds new passion with wheelchair basketball

CHICAGO (WGN)— Shot at the age of 8 when a stray bullet found him at an outdoor family gathering, few could’ve predicted how Mekhi McGruder would survive – and thrive.

WGN Investigates has been following Mekhi’s successes and struggles in the six years since he was shot and paralyzed in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.

He found freedom on a swim team at the age of 12.  Now, at 14-years-old, he’s just as happy on the hardwood playing on a wheelchair basketball team.

“A lot of my friends are here and I can relate to a lot of these people – and I really enjoy the game,” Mekhi said while gearing up for practice at the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association.  

Mekhi’s mom looked on while standing next to other parents marveling at how far her son has come. 

“They taught him,” Miranda Randle said. “He didn’t even know how to dribble the ball or pick it up from the wheelchair.  He didn’t think he could do it. The coach just watched him as all the kids came around him showing him how to do it.”

Coach Keith Wallace is also the director of LWSRA.  He said it took two years and a few chance encounters with Mekhi and his family before Wallace convinced Mekhi he would enjoy playing basketball from a wheelchair.   

 “Some people can just say ‘Hey, I’m going to sit in the house and do nothing and feel sorry for me.’ Or they’re going to get out and start their new life, their new way of living,” Wallace said.  “Once they find their people it changes their life – it changes their parents’ life.”

Mekhi’s basketball team has qualified to compete in the 2025 National Wheelchair Basketball Association Championships in April in Richmond, VA. Most athletes are provided with specialized chairs by LWSRA that can cost nearly $6,000 so the ability to pay doesn’t prevent a child from discovering the sport.   

The team is raising money to help defray the cost of competing at the national championships.  

“We’re just trying to make that our tragedy – what happened with Mekhi – doesn’t define him,” his mom said.