TAMPA, Fla. — Vivian Acker still remembers the time a gunman shot at her car in October.
She was asleep inside, nine weeks pregnant, with her husband and three kids. Acker would then spend weeks at the hospital recovering with a bullet still lodged in her head.
But a recent visit to the doctor in April had her reliving the trauma. She said she was told her unborn son no longer had a heartbeat and wouldn't make it alive.
It was two days before her C-section was due, she said.
"It felt like as if I was shot in the head, and I was awake," Acker said. "It feels like it happened to me all over again."
Now, the Acker family is planning to leave Florida for a fresh start through a GoFundMe. They're looking at North Carolina, where the family of Acker's husband, De'Marian, lives as an option.
"Right now, we just feel like we're just trapped in a cycle mentally," De'Marian said.
Acker said she'd been visiting medical staff twice weekly since her shooting to ensure her baby was still healthy. The injuries put her at high risk pregnancy, she said.
"They did everything they could," Acker said. "We fought so hard."
Since the shooting, the family said they've been able to temporarily stay at a hotel with support from the community right after the shooting and from De'Marian's job.
The Acker family had only been visiting town for three days when they were shot at.
Acker said she came to help her father who had suffered a stroke. Police said while they had family in town, their relatives didn't have room for them.
Tampa Police arrested 21-year-old Christopher Stamat Jr. in October. He felt other people were stalking him in different cars before he shot at the car the family was sleeping in, authorities said.
Stamat Jr. shot at the car 13 times at a parking lot in the area of North Oregon near North Willow avenues. Stamat faces six felony charges, including second-degree attempted murder.
The couple said they no longer have a car, which Acker said was used for Uber and DoorDash. The impact from her injuries prompted her to take time off work.
Despite the impact the shooting has had on the family, they said they forgive the shooter.
"I never thought in my life, that in my own hometown, I will lose as much as I've lost," Acker said. "I have to get back out of here because I feel trapped."
If you'd like to help the Acker family, visit this link.