Mom Fought to Keep Son Alive After He Was Shot in the Face — Now He's Home, Continuing to Make Progress (Exclusive)

Heide Williams tells PEOPLE that doctors initially wanted to give up, but she refused to let her son be taken off life support

Rafael Gonzales was an aspiring Cleveland musician about to sign a recording contract when he was shot in the face by a gunman during a night out with friends in January 2023.

Mom Heide Williams, 49, tells PEOPLE she got the call in the middle of the night from one of her son’s friends to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. While her husband got dressed, she was fervently praying — and getting the word out.

“I called my mom and she started crying, and I told her, 'I need you to call up your prayer warriors,' ” Williams says.

When they got to the hospital, the prognosis was dire. She says she was told there was almost no chance of recovery.

But Williams wasn’t about to let her son go without knowing she'd done everything in her power. She refused to have him taken off life support and against all odds connected with Dr. Enyinna Nwachuku, a neurosurgeon at Cleveland Clinic Akron General, who agreed to give the case a fresh look.

Now, almost two years later, Williams sees the fruits of steadfast commitment to her son, 29, who has been living at home with Willams, her husband and his younger siblings — he also has an older brother and sister — for a little more than a year now.

“The key player in this is Heide," Nwachuku tells PEOPLE. "She fought for her son, and that's the only reason I think Rafael is here with us."

According to Williams, her son was shot in the forehead after turning to look at the shooter chasing him down a dark street.

PEOPLE confirms with a Criminal Court clerk at the Cleveland Courthouse that Jose Pizzaro was subsequently convicted of attempted murder, drug possession and a felon in possession of a gun. He appealed his original sentence of 17.5-22.5 years imprisonment, and was denied on July 25.

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At the hospital, Williams said there was only one doctor who expressed hope about her son's odds of recovery. "She said, ‘Do not let them take away your son. We don’t know what the brain is capable of,’ “ Williams recalls. “She told me ‘You fight for your son.' "

Outside of attending meetings with doctors, Williams wasn't sure what else to do, but after three weeks of fighting for her son yielded little change, she knew she needed to transfer him to another hospital — even though she says she was told that her son would die before she found somewhere else that would take him.

“I told them you are not God and you aren’t playing God on my watch,” says Williams, who relied on her faith to keep her strong.

She walked out, tears streaming, completely lost. She says she couldn’t breath, couldn’t think and felt completely hopeless. All she could do was go home with her family and sleep. Then, call it an epiphany or, as Williams describes it, a message from God, but a voice told her to call Cleveland Clinic.

She says she just dialed a main number telling them, “I don’t know what I’m doing, I’ve never been through this before.” From there she was quickly connected to Nwachuku, who immediately initiated the transfer.

“Rafael’s case was very difficult," Nwachuku, who agreed to operate on Gonzales, says. "On a scale of 1-10, he was probably  8 or 9."

Nwachuku tells PEOPLE the entire left side of Gonzales's brain was injured from the bullet trajectory through his forehead. Based on his experience, the doctor told Williams that her son might never be able to use the right side of his body again, and there was a chance his speech and understanding of language would never return.

“I told her he might be in a nursing home the rest of his life, but [with surgery] he would be alive," the doctor recalls. "And I said, if she was okay with worst case scenarios, I could march this journey with you."

Even after finding the right medical team, the journey wasn't easy.

The initial surgery included taking more of the brain out and putting in a shunt to reduce the swelling, according to Williams. Other surgeries included a cranioplasty (a procedure to help reshape the skull) and over 5 surgeries to put in shunts to help drain excess fluid. During his recovery process, he was also transferred to a care center, where he suffered some infections, and at one point, he even had acute kidney failure.

“The recovery process is grueling," says Nwachuku. "And it can take a toll on caregivers."

Finally, in July 2023, it was time to come home.

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Williams, who left her job as a probation officer so she could care for her son, who remains non-verbal, is also thrilled with his progress — and says that even without words, he manages to get his thoughts and needs across.

“He communicates through his thumbs and hands. If he wants a juice box, he makes a box shape with his hands,” she says.

Gonzales can also now use a walker, ride on an exercise bike for 45 minutes, and he recently spelled his name for the first time on one of the physical therapist’s electronic pads.

“We bought little alphabets for him, so he spelled the word GOAT and started dancing,” Williams says. “He’s alive. And he’s progressing.”

Even Nwachuku can't believe how far Gonzales has come. Says the surgeon. “Rafael has completely surprised everyone."

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