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“I just remember saying, ‘Please save me. Please save me. Please save me.’ Talking to the ambulance and all the medical staff that I was saying things like that, and just praying to God that my life wouldn’t end like this,” Nathan Demian told Global News.
The 22-year-old from Langley who now plays soccer at Ohio State University was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting on Dec. 8.
“A couple inches in a different direction, and you’re dead on the spot,” Demian said.
The young player is now back in Ohio after recovering in B.C. over the holidays.
Demian was shot in the abdomen and doctors in Ohio told his family he may not make it.
His loved ones raced to be by his side.
“Every day was like another miracle, we were hearing,” sister Anne said. “But within the three weeks at the hospital, it still had so many ups and downs and challenging moments.”
At one point, doctors thought Demian might require a feeding tube and ostomy bags for the rest of his life and although the soccer player had some internal bleeding and had to be rushed back to the ICU, he pulled through each time.
He said his friends and family and a new outlook helped.
“There’s more to life than playing sports, recognizing there’s more to life than school,” he said. “Recognize that, like, 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 his recovery and getting back on the pitch by August.
“I’m so grateful, and just like so, just so happy to have a second chance at life,” he said.
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