In 1998, Michael Buck was visiting a friend in his old South Shore neighborhood of Chicago when he was shot 11 times. He spent four months in intensive care and two months in a medically induced coma. He woke up just before his 21st birthday. Now, Michael is studying to become a pharmacist, but there are times when the recurrent physical and mental pain causes him to lose focus. Last month, he spoke with his mother, Irene Stacks, at StoryCorps in Chicago. Michael said the effects of the shooting are more evident today than they were two decades ago, immediately after the shooting.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him @chicagoan.