Finding Forgiveness
Jackie Millar took years to recover after two teenagers shot her in the head. Now, a pioneering program in the state of Wisconsin is helping to bring victims and offenders together to help both sides get on with their lives.
On November 4th 1995, two boys came to steal Jackie's car. They shot her in the head and left her for dead; she remains almost blind and permanently brain damaged. "I was the age of a two year old after the incident... I had to learn how to sit, how to stand, how to walk, how to talk." Her killers, Craig and Josh are now serving 85 and 65 years respectively. Pete De Wind, a professor who runs the restorative justice project - a program designed to allow victims and their offenders to meet - is surprised by the extent of the reconciliation between Jackie and her attackers. "It's quite uncommon for someone like Jackie to befriend one or more people who offended against them." For her attackers, her forgiveness is a lifeline. "Through meeting Jackie...I have had years to do serious thinking, soul searching, and look at things from a different perspective."
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