David Ortiz spoke on his experience during and after his shooting in the Dominican Republic in his first public comments regarding the event.
In a story by Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe, Ortiz detailed the shooting, a person in the bar who rushed to save him, his surgeries and how his views of the world have changed since that night.
I felt a burning sensation. I felt weird, like not myself, as I went down... People need to understand, this isn’t a movie where you get shot in the street and you’re back two minutes later. No, I got shot and almost died. I only have one life to live. I can’t just go to the pharmacy and buy another one.
Right after Ortiz got shot, people began to scatter, leaving the Red Sox legend alone on the floor. However, a man named Eliezer Salvador helped Ortiz, put him in his car and rushed him to the hospital, ramming cars that parked him in at the bar.
Ortiz then went through two surgeries to repair the damage done to his intestines and liver. Three weeks later he began suffering from a bacterial infection that would require a third procedure. Thankfully he averted the potential danger and returned home a month after his third surgery.
Still, the mystery behind his shooting lingered in his mind enough for him to hire former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis to investigate.
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I want to find out who did this. I’m not going to sit around and chill if there’s somebody out there who wants to kill me... One lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t be naive. There are a lot of things going on now that you have to be aware of. I need to pay attention and be more careful.
Ortiz made his return to Fenway Park this past Monday to throw out the first pitch and he is expected to return as an analyst for the MLB Playoffs this fall.
We'll eventually find out what was behind his shooting and the motivations involved, but the most important thing is that Ortiz lived through it and is able to speak on the incident, rather than having June 9th as his last moments.
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