“I just remember saying, ‘Please save me.’ Please save me. Please save me. I was telling the ambulance and all the medical staff that I was saying things like that, and I was just praying to God that my life wouldn’t end like that,” Nathan Demian told Global News.
The 22-year-old from Langley, who now plays football at Ohio State University, was caught in the crossfire during a Dec. 8 drive-by shooting.
“A few centimeters in a different direction, and you’re dead instantly,” Demian said.
The young player is now back in Ohio after recuperating in British Columbia over the holidays.
Demian was shot in the abdomen and doctors in Ohio told his family he might not make it.
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His loved ones rushed to be by his side.
“Every day was like another miracle we got along,” Sister Anne said. “But during the three weeks in the hospital, there were still so many ups, downs and difficult times.”
At one point, doctors thought Demian might need a feeding tube and ostomy bags for the rest of his life and, although the footballer suffered internal bleeding and had to be urgently discharged in intensive care, he came out every time.
He said his friends and family and a new perspective helped him.
“There is a lot more to life than playing sports, and we have to recognize that there is a lot more to life than school,” he said. “Recognize that life can change so quickly. »
The gunmen are still at large, but Demian said he is not worried about that and is instead focused on recovering and returning to the field by August.
“I am so grateful, and just as happy to have a second chance at life,” he said.
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