THROUGH HELL AND BACK

I live in Dallas, Texas. I am Catholic, confirmed when I was about 11 years old. St. Michael is my guardian angel.

A little more than 4 years ago, I was shot at point-blank range with a .22 Magnum pistol with a hollow point bullet. For those of you who do not know anything about guns or bullets, a hollow point bullet does more damage to your body. Upon impact, the bullet expands to nearly double its original diameter.

When I was shot, my life literally flashed before me. I went back to my childhood, and I was riding my bike. Then the memories started progressing very rapidly. Suddenly, I stopped seeing these memories and I was able to get my breath. I was conscious until I got to the hospital. I was in tremendous pain. They rushed me to one of the best trauma hospitals in Dallas. I went unconscious at this point. I remember it felt so good to be out of pain.

My next big horror was when I woke up in ICU, trying to catch my breath and start breathing again. The pain was still very intense. It was about 11:30 p.m. when this first happened. When I woke up in the ICU, my sister was there from Austin.

The bullet had entered through my diaphragm. It then passed through my lung causing it to collapse, tore my liver, then lodged in my back muscle. The doctors told me it would be too dangerous to try to remove the bullet. They said they would have to leave the bullet where it was.

Two days later, the doctors thought I was ready to go home, but they hadn't realized yet that the bullet had damaged part of my liver and the bile was filling my lungs. This caused severe infection and I was rushed to emergency surgery. A day or so after the surgery, I wasn't getting any better. The infection was still severe and I was very pale, feverish and weak. It was six days later before I was finally able to eat. One of my family members was told that they didn't think I had a chance. I was in the hospital for 22 days.

I went home with one of the two tubes that they had placed in my side. I had to keep this tube in me to drain fluids and keep more infection from filling my lungs. It was very hard and painful for me to even sleep.

The bullet is still lodged in my back. I still have trouble and pain with my diaphragm. I constantly feel the bullet. When I overexert myself, the tissue surrounding the bullet swells up for days and is very painful. You can still feel the bullet beneath my skin.

One of my doctors who had cleaned my wound when I was first brought into the emergency room, told me that I was a very lucky young man. He said that if the bullet had entered just 1/4 of an inch closer to the center of my chest, I would have never made it!

At one point, I wished I had died instead of having to go through so much pain. I feel like it is a miracle that I am here today and able to do the things I enjoy in life. I don't take every day for granted like I used to.

I have been told that you don't hear the sound of the gun or rifle that hits you when you are shot, or you just don't remember it. I remember the sound and the burning sensation of hot lead flowing through my flesh.

I believe each person should live every day to the fullest because you never know, it could end in a flash!

By: M.M.