Peace march planned to honor young lives lost to violence
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Derris Ross, who has organized a Saturday peace march to give a voice to Indianapolis youth and stand against violence, overcame respiratory failure this year and said his recovery renewed his sense of purpose in the city.
The Our Youth Matters Peace March is meant to honor young people who have lost their lives to violence, in particular, 14-year-old “Manny” Johnson who died after being shot at a June 10 birthday party in Lawrence where four other teens were injured by gunfire.
Ross has had chronic lung disease since he was a kid. In March, he had respiratory lung failure that caused internal bleeding, pneumonia and blood clots in his lungs.
“Blood wouldn’t stop coming up. The blood wouldn’t stop coming out of my mouth. So they had to paralyze me and induce me into a coma,” he said.
Ross said he lost 3 pounds of blood during the two weeks he was hospitalized. He was on life support for five days and lost pulses at one point.
“But God told me it wasn’t my time,” he said.
Ross said his recovery was a miracle: “This experience was confirmation for me that I had a bigger purpose and bigger calling in life.”
That calling came in the form of his nonprofit, the Ross Foundation. The foundation has been around since 2014, but Ross said it’s his new lease on life since respiratory failure that led to a greater sense of purpose.
“There’s only one way you can describe it, it’s a miracle from God,” he said.
“If kids are not allowed to have fun anymore and we take away that, at a birthday party, then we have a problem with the future of our city,” said Ross.
Ross expects more than 1,000 people to attend the march, which is scheduled to start at noon Saturday at 38th Street and Franklin Road, with check-in at 11:30 a.m. He said members of IMPD, representatives from Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office and the Marion County Health Department will be there.
“Tomorrow is about creating a platform for our youth to have a voice and make sure their concerns and solutions are being heard,” said Ross.
Ross said his recovery is going much more quickly than expected. However, he’s pacing himself because “I can’t save lives if I’m not alive,” said Ross.
If you’d like more information on Saturday’s peace march or on the Ross Foundation, click here.