HOUSTON – Channel 2 cameras were there when Manny Jimenez, 11, walked out of the rehabilitation center he has been living at for the past month.
His mother, Elizabeth Garcia, said he has been improving since receiving therapy.
"He's been doing really good," Garcia said. "They're really nice people. They took care of him really good."
The fifth-grader was shot in the chest almost two months ago. The bullet pierced part of his lung and he's been getting treatment and working on getting his strength back. He said he can't wait to go home.
"Spend time with family," Manny said. "I haven't really spent so much with them. They had to come back and forth. I just want to stay with them."
But the family won't be going back to the southeast Houston home on Narcissus Drive where the drive-by shooting happened.
Garcia said there are too many painful memories after her 6-year-old son, Moises Jimenez was killed in the same drive-by shooting.
The family is staying with relatives in a new neighborhood.
Only Channel 2 was there when Manny went home to his aunt's house, where his family is now staying.
He and his cousins had fun catching up and playing video games, the 11-year-old jokingly said he's most looking forward to taking "a long nap."
Garcia said having Manny home is bittersweet. She's happy to have him out of the hospital, but having him home is a painful reminder that Moises will never come home.
"Since he was in the hospital I've always thought they were both gonna come home," Garcia said. "Just remembering now that I don't have Moses."
Garcia and Manny said they felt the outpouring of prayer and love from the community and it helped them get through this difficult time.
"Even though they don't know us, they're still pretty good people," Manny said.
"I'm so grateful," Garcia said. "I wish I could meet every single person and thank them all."