{"id":41586,"date":"2016-05-09T20:41:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T01:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=41586"},"modified":"2016-05-09T20:41:17","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T01:41:17","slug":"john-the-barber-beats-odds-to-cut-hair-again-even-from-a-wheelchair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/john-the-barber-beats-odds-to-cut-hair-again-even-from-a-wheelchair\/","title":{"rendered":"John the Barber: beats odds to cut hair again, even from a wheelchair"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Gebresilassie<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting shot six times and becoming paralyzed from the chest-down didn\u2019t stop John \u201cSo Icey John\u201d Sharp from becoming one of the best barbers in town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got shot up being at the wrong place at the wrong time,\u201d Sharp, 28, says, adding he wont let the circumstances prevent him from continuing his life.<\/p>\n

Today, Sharp cuts hair from his wheelchair at Englewood\u2019s Pro-Line Barber and Beauty. In the last seven months, he’s developed a strong client base, which he’s proud of.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I\u2019m here, I made it,\u201d says Sharp.<\/p>\n

[vimeo 165389838 w=474]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this video, John Sharp, a barber at Pro-Line Barber and Beauty in Englewood, opens up about overcoming adversity after getting shot six times. (Hannah Gebresilassie\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n

Sharp was walking to his aunt\u2019s house when violence broke out in the streets of Morgan Park in 2010. That night, a gunman put six bullets in his body and left him with a life-changing spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still got a bullet by my spinal cord,\u201d Sharp says. \u201cI used to be paralyzed from my chest down. I had no feeling at all for almost a year and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharp lost his mother three months before the shooting incident and his father passed away one-and-a-half years later. His early twenties presented devastating trials, yet he prevailed and overcame the adversity to do what he loves.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll you have to do is just watch the man cut,\u201d says Bryant Jones, Pro-line artist and Sharp’s coworker. \u201cThe zone he gets into and the love he has for what he does, you can\u2019t beat it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many in the Englewood community say Sharp\u2019s story is inspiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got something to prove,\u201d says Sharp. \u201cI gotta show my mama and daddy this is how it is. I\u2019m still going to hold it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: John Sharp cuts a loyal client’s hair at Pro-Line Barber and Beauty. (Hannah Gebresilassie\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Gebresilassie Getting shot six times and becoming paralyzed from the chest-down didn\u2019t stop John \u201cSo Icey John\u201d Sharp from becoming one of the best barbers in town. \u201cI got shot up being at the wrong place at the wrong time,\u201d Sharp, 28, says, adding he wont let the circumstances prevent him from continuing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":41589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2582],"tags":[2750,2749,1556,1554,2751,925],"class_list":["post-41586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2016","tag-barber","tag-barbershop","tag-englewood","tag-gun-violence","tag-hair","tag-wheelchair"],"yoast_head":"\nJohn the Barber: beats odds to cut hair again, even from a wheelchair - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/john-the-barber-beats-odds-to-cut-hair-again-even-from-a-wheelchair\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John the Barber: beats odds to cut hair again, even from a wheelchair - 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