I'm Grace white.
It's a call no parent wants to hear.
But when this mother's phone
rang in the middle of the night,
she knew something was wrong.
It wasn't first responders calling her.
It was her own daughter, Sydney Leday.
She told her mom she had been shot.
Sydney was at the same private
party in downtown Houston where
rapper Takeoff was killed.
Her mom, trying to process the news,
rushed to the hospital to be by her
daughter's side in her first interview.
This mom.
Opens up about her daughter's recovery,
what those early moments
were like in the hospital,
and why she's calling for
accountability now for what happened
to her 24 year old daughter.
What has this been like as a mom to
watch your daughter go through this?
Ohh as a mom is from from the beginning.
It's been like like she said, it's unreal.
It's like Halloween weekend,
just haven't stopped.
You know, as a mom, you you want to make
sure your child is OK, of course so.
Moms, we know how to hold things
in and keep pushing and make sure
everything's OK and we kind of will
set ourselves to the side, you know,
just to make sure our children are good.
But it's been a nightmare.
You know, as a mom,
you're watching your child sick,
like she said, coming home from the hospital.
Well, from from the initial phone call,
I felt like my whole inside was on the floor,
you know, my husband had to pick me up.
We had to keep pushing to even get to her,
you know,
and just to hear the words from your child.
Mom, I've been shot in my head,
you know, like. You're like what?
Like what? What are you saying?
And then she's telling me that, so.
And where were you when
you got that phone call?
What The funny thing I whenever
she's not home and she goes out,
I'm constantly up.
I'm walking around.
And that particular night I just
sat down on the side of the bed and.
When the phone rang,
I just knew it it was something.
So, you know, we just had to.
I had to call my mom, call my sisters,
tell my husband, you know.
Not that she's been shot in the head,
but we gotta go now.
So it's just been it's hard.
So you went straight to the hospital.
What happened when you got there?
We stood outside in the cold and rain
under the carport with the police because
we couldn't go in for like 7 hours.
That must have been torture.
It was. You know, to hear
her say that. And then.
And then you don't know.
Did they tell you? I guess she told you.
She you knew that she had been shot. Hmm.
But it's to know like, is she OK? Like.
7 hours is a long time.
And. The police were trying to
be as as helpful as they could,
but they didn't know, you know, her
situation because they were out
there with me and they had to secure
the hospital so that. If there was,
if it was a threat to her. You know.
Not knowing who the shooters were.
Not knowing if. Umm.
They were followed to the hospital.
They were worried about her
safety, even in the hospital.
Yes, she was under an alias.
And I I suggested that they keep it that
way because we didn't know anything.
Looking at social media?
With, you know, with this guy.
The way they were showing him.
And then knowing that she's
in the hospital like.
That was tortured by itself,
so 7 hours later. You get to your
daughter, hmm? What did you see?
Basically, the picture that I posted on her
go fund me is what I saw. She had a tube.
To me, she looked like she
was dead. Me being a mom.
Just something on there for forget.
How long was it before she
she woke up that first time?
Probably the next day, I think.
Umm. She woke up and like
she said, she wants to leave,
so they had to keep her. Sedated.
And just seeing her, you know,
her hands are in some in meetings.
The two. You know, just the
whole look of everything and.
Yeah, even my friends are.
When they see their picture, they just.
And it's like you need a warning
sign. Yeah, but you know, my family,
I didn't share a lot of things with my
family because it was so much going on.
And once I did post the go fund me,
it was a whole.
It was like everything started over.
People had to explain what happened
first. A lot of calls and. Yeah, it did.
Like it was coming back all over again,
which we knew was gonna happen, but.
It's just like you have on
those emotions all over again.
There's no planning. For any of it,
it's no planning with her having nightmares.
She was constantly nauseated.
She couldn't eat.
The anxiety, the constant emotions.
Just out of nowhere she's crying, you know?
We're just trying to take care of her.
The insult we had to deal with all of that.
And we're still dealing with it.
For a while she was afraid
she didn't know, you know.
Should just say no.
You know, even as a mother,
I'm sheltering her from the TV.
I'm sheltering her.
I'm keeping her phone so
she's not on social media.
She's not seeing the pictures
from that night. You know,
she's not reading all these comments.
It's just it's just a lot.
You know, I'm, I'm covering up
for my my 7 year old, you know,
she wants to know where Sissy.
So I'm, you know,
I'm telling her, you know,
she knew she was in the hospital, but.
I'm telling her old Sissy has a headache.
Which you'll be fine.
She knew something was going on,
but. She's only 7.
What do you want to say to people who?
Following the case,
heard about Sydney's story,
who have wanted to help in some way
and wanted to know how she's doing.
I just want to say it's a long.
Road to recovery.
It's a day-to-day process.
You know, it's not easy. Umm.
We're so appreciative for all the love
and support from strangers you know.
You just never know.
You never know where.
Help can confirm.
You never know that.
Strangers.
You know, people here.
All this bad stuff.
About every day, but it
is a good side, you know.
People that they don't know her, but.
Don't apologize.
It's just people don't
know her but
and they don't know
us as a family, but to see the
support and the love from people.
I have sometimes I haven't.
I have some looking thing. It's a
lot that I haven't even
saw from my own family.
People that know her,
but to see people give that don't
know her, that means so much.
And I can't. I can't say thank you enough.
Like she said, we're grateful.
So grateful.
Not just know God is so good because
he didn't have to keep her here.
But he did. So we have to live our life
a different way, just being grateful.
As a mom, do you want someone to be
held accountable for what happened
that night to your daughter?
I do. Because she didn't ask for that.
You know, if.
If you just, I know you can't.
You can go to Walmart and some
can happen, but if you're out,
you're just having a good time.
You're in an establishment.
I feel like you should be
safe enough to go home.
You know, you shouldn't have
to worry about being shot.
So if if they find someone then that's great.
If they have the person that
they think is accountable,
that's great.
But yes, someone, someone,
some the place what? Wherever,
someone should be held accountable.