I'm Grace white.
Many people don't realize the night rapper
take off was shot and killed in Houston.
There were other people injured.
One of them is 24 year old Sydney Leday.
She was shot in the head in the
early morning hours of November 1st,
spent a week in the hospital and
says it's a miracle she survived.
Laday is born and raised in Houston and says
she's been leaning on her family for support.
It's a story we've been working on for
months and waiting until she was ready.
To tell her story,
in her first interview,
she talks with us about what it was
like being there that night and
the wounds she's still recovering
from physically and emotionally.
Sydney, first tell us how you're doing.
Every day is different.
I'm. I'm going through different emotions.
I haven't saw a therapist or anything so.
This. Most days I'm happy. I mean well,
most days I could just sum it up.
It's a mix of emotions so.
Have random times or feel.
Angry.
A lot of I wouldn't say sadness.
It's I have feelings of.
Being grateful that I
am still here.
You've made a miraculous recovery.
Tell us what you've been through.
I really just gonna say I'm
just grateful to be here.
And it's just like sometimes aren't real.
Do you remember the moment you
first woke up in the hospital?
Everybody was around me. Well,
when I first woke up, like I said,
I didn't want to be there.
I kept telling my mom I want to go home.
I had never been in a hospital like that,
but I knew I remembered what
happened because when I got,
I was up the whole time after I got
shot in the head and I called my mom.
And told her what happened and come.
You called your mom after you
were shot, yeah. And I. Yeah,
I told her to come to the hospital,
but I ended up having a seizure,
so I was on the phone with
her the whole time. And so
you knew exactly what had happened
and why you were in the hospital,
hmm? Yeah. But everybody was around me,
my mom, my my aunts, my grandma.
I know you said you knew why
you were in the hospital,
but did you understand the
extent of of your injuries and
and what you had survived?
Yes, I did. I was up for the whole thing.
I felt the sting in the back of my head.
I felt myself falling and the person I was
way picked me up and we got in the car.
But it was just, it was like a like
a scary movie really to ironically,
it was Halloween night.
I had. I had on none outfit.
I had blood all over me.
And you had dressed up for Halloween. Yeah,
and it was still my birthday weekend. So you
had just turned 24? Yeah.
So I mean like any other 24 year old,
I was just out partying and
celebrating cause I really never
dressed up for Halloween and that
was something I was excited about.
Did you know the people there that night?
Did you know take off was was there?
Yeah, I saw everybody that obvious.
I'm used to being around celebrities.
So it wasn't because I used to
live in Los Angeles. So I'm never,
I mean it wasn't like a big deal,
it was just more so like.
You know, just a regular party.
And had you been there the whole
night or or what time did you
get to the the bowling alley?
It was after hours. So I got there around
maybe 12 or maybe 1:00 o'clock because
we were we had been to a few places.
Like I said it was we were celebrating my
birthday still and it was Halloween and I
told the person I was what I wanted to,
you know, hang out tonight because I
have my costume. I looked cute. So.
Yeah, so we got there at like 12:00
AM and everybody was just hanging out.
We had a few drinks.
At any point. Do you remember being
scared before all that happened or was
it in your opinion and a normal night?
Yeah, it was pretty normal in my opinion.
Yeah, our in get scared.
It wasn't any arguments or anything
until the event was actually over.
And um. Yeah, that's when I knew
something was wrong after the fact
because I thought these people that were
were arguing with just playing from,
like I said, the energy that was in
the room before everybody was around
the table playing a game of dice.
So I thought it was just like, you know,
some friend, like friendly banter.
But that argument or that arguing
was kind of your first sign that
something, something was going on.
Yeah, because.
Quavo he was upset so he and he.
I've noticed that something was wrong.
Whenever I noticed that he was really
upset and he wanted he was finna leave.
So we the party wasn't gonna keep
going on and I saw whenever.
Everything broke out and I tried
to run but I didn't go that far so.
Yeah, it was like,
it was really like a movie,
like shooting like all the way until
I got down the escalator into the
car and I'm just telling the person
I'm with like, I'm scared, like,
and I knew something happened to me.
From falling and feeling
a stinging sensation.
So you were actually running away
when you were shot, is that yes?
Yeah, so that's when I got in the
car and called my mom and we wrote.
Luckily we were only 12 minutes
away from Memorial Hermann
now. So you made it down the
escalator into the friend's car.
That friend took you to the hospital,
rushed you there and you said you spent
how long in the hospital, total a week.
What was it like when you when you went home?
That's when the real stuff started, like I
had a panic attack as soon as I got home.
Do you replay that night in
your head and what happened?
Yeah, I had a panic attack.
And I just remember I don't
really have an appetite.
All I really ate was like
fruit and just different stuff.
I was nauseated, throwing up all the time.
Like, yeah, that was just.
I feel like that part was even worse
than the actual being shot in the head,
because I'm actually feeling.
Feeling. Filling all those fillets.
Have you read a lot of the articles that
have been published about that night? Yeah.
I'm pretty curious person.
So yeah, I wanted to know because
I was having memory problems and
I couldn't really write like
my name and stuff like that,
even get discharged or, you know,
sign certain things in the hospital.
So I was having certain problems at first.
Did you realize other people
were shot as well? No.
I mean of course being in it you don't
even trying to get away from me.
You know you're not.
I don't mean to sound heartless,
but you're not worried about other people.
I was worried about one of
my other friends because she,
I know she was right there by me and
I was worried about her because I
they told me she was at the hospital.
So I and I actually saw her
or something like that.
See that's what I'm saying.
Like I had to keep asking like you know
to like refresh me on certain things.
But yeah she ended up being OK
that you didn't realize.
Takeoff was killed until you got home.
Umm, yeah. What was that like to realize
that other people were shot that night?
I mean, I'm actually,
I actually was going through it.
I was sad that it ended up like that.
But I mean, we were all in the
same situation. Unfortunately,
somebody else didn't survive and
I was just grateful that I did
because the place that I hit it.
My head, I just feel like it.
It was a miracle.