Yahoo News ‘Kim Kardashian saved my life’: After being shot 4 times, TikToker claims Skims bodysuit saved her
After being shot four times in a random act of gun violence, a woman claims that her Skims bodysuit helped save her life — and one medical expert states it could be possible.
On Dec. 31, 2022, Angelina (Nina) Wiley and her friends were celebrating the New Year in Westport, Kansas City. As Wiley explains in a TikTok series, the group was waiting for their Lyft to arrive when they decided to visit a nearby food truck.
As they crossed the street to check on their food, Wiley and her friend passed a group of strangers fighting. Suddenly, a man in a ski mask opened fire on the group, and in the melee, Wiley was struck four times — rupturing her bladder, cracking her pelvis and lodging a bullet in her abdomen (which couldn’t be removed by surgeons).
However, in a video that gained over 1.6 million views — and a repost from Kim Kardashian herself — Wiley claimed that it was her Skims bodysuit that prevented her from losing her life that night.
The Claim
In the video, uploaded months after the incident to Wiley’s TikTok account (@honeygxd), Wiley stated, “Kim Kardashian saved my life. … Call it fate, or Jesus, but I’mma call it Kim!”
According to Wiley, the Skims bodysuit she was wearing the night of her shooting acted as a kind of “female body armor.”
“It was so tight on me that it literally kept me from bleeding out,” she claimed.
In a later video, Wiley asserted that the bodysuit redistributed her body fat, causing the bullets to pass through fat, rather than vital organs.
She claims that’s why doctors haven’t removed the bullet still lodged in her abdomen, because it would pose a higher risk to take it out.
Wiley later explained that, while she filmed her now-viral video in a lighthearted, comical way — something that drew many negative, hateful comments, according to Wiley — the shooting and her recovery have taken an extreme mental and physical toll.
In a GoFundMe update, Wiley explained that her road to recovery has been a challenging one.
“I’ve gone through ups and downs as I hopped, scooted, and rolled around everywhere when I couldn’t walk,” she wrote.
“I continue to have a lot of struggles with my hip ever since the fracture as well as many other pains,” she continued. “The bullet still in me causes random pains and honestly I struggle with severe ptsd ever since the shooting.”
How It Went Viral
On July 14, more than two months after Wiley posted the video to her account, Kim Kardashian herself seemed to catch wind of the TikTok — launching it into the viral stratosphere.
TikTokers flocked to Wiley’s comment section to alert her to the news.
Captioned simply “wowww 🙏,” Kardashian’s Instagram repost sent millions of views and likes Wiley’s way.
Wiley’s video was also acknowledged by the official TikTok account of Skims, which messaged her privately.
In a later video, Wiley shared that Skims not only refunded her lost bodysuit — which had been cut off of her and kept as evidence the night of her shooting — but sent her coupons, as well as a couple of gifts.
Despite these offerings from Skims and the support of Kardashian herself, Wiley says that going viral showed her “just how awful people can be.”
“As a survivor of gun violence, I should not be getting death threats because I made a video [about] Kim Kardashian. … All of [my] personal social media is getting flooded with comments saying that I’m gonna go to hell and that I deserved getting shot. Like, you don’t think that’s gonna get to someone?”
According to an Expert
Is it possible for a compression bodysuit to save one’s life in the event of a shooting? In The Know by Yahoo reached out to Dr. Jon Kanevsky at Aura Aesthetica to learn more.
“A compression body suit may provide some limited benefit in controlling bleeding after a gunshot injury, but it is not a definitive or reliable solution to prevent hemorrhage,” Kanevsky said. “In a medical emergency such as a gunshot wound, immediate and appropriate medical attention is critical for the best outcome.”
He continued, “In some cases, [a compression bodysuit] may help provide mild pressure to a wound, which could potentially slow down bleeding to some extent. However, gunshot wounds are typically deep and severe injuries that require more than just external pressure to control bleeding.”
Kanevsky advised: “It’s important to remember that compression body suits are not meant to be a replacement for proper medical treatment or emergency care. In the event of a gunshot wound or any severe injury causing hemorrhage, always prioritize seeking immediate medical attention by calling emergency services or going to the nearest hospital. Only trained medical professionals can properly assess and treat the severity of the injury and provide the necessary interventions to prevent further harm and potentially save a person’s life.”
While Wiley’s Skims bodysuit may not have been solely responsible for saving her life, the brand’s support — as well as the support of Kardashian herself — seems to have buoyed Wiley’s spirit on her challenging road to recovery.
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The post ‘Kim Kardashian saved my life’: After being shot 4 times, TikToker claims Skims bodysuit saved her appeared first on In The Know.
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