Colin Goddard was shot three times on Monday, had a steel rod installed in his femur on Wednesday and will carry shrapnel in his leg for the rest of his life but, according to his aunt, he intends to be in Madagascar by summer.

Goddard's aunt Irene Fernandes, a high school library specialist from Bellevue, Wash., said her nephew was scheduled to visit the island nation located off the southeast coast of Africa as part of an aid program and "he still plans on going."

That's more or less in keeping with the pace Goddard has kept most of his life.

The Virginia Tech senior was born in Kenya and, as a child, spent time in Somalia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Atlanta before moving to Cairo, Egypt, during his high school years.

"He's lived overseas, he's lived in dangerous places," Fernandes said in a telephone interview Friday.

"In Cairo, there were armed guards at his school ... they had a lot of security in his building," she said. "And this [Blacksburg] is where it happens."

Colin was shot in the leg by Seung-Hui Cho during the Virginia Tech shootings. Cho left the room, then, upon returning to the classroom, shot Goddard in the shoulder and buttocks. The most serious injury was the leg wound.

"The only surgery he has had is to put a rod in his femur. I think the rod goes down the middle," Fernandes said.

"And there's a lot of shrapnel in his leg," she said, adding that it will not be removed. "It'll be cocooned into his body, and his body should accept it."

Fernandes spoke to her nephew Thursday and said he was in good spirits, watching the movie "Borat."

She also said her family was pleased with the care Goddard was receiving at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center.

"He's very positive and looking forward to the future and hoping to be the best PT [physical therapy] patient they have," she explained.

"He wants his life back."

-- Neil Harvey