"I was feeling something that I had never felt before, and that was just the feeling of trying to survive," he told Univision in an emotional interview.
More than three months after being shot outside a nightclub in Dominican Republic, former Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz got emotional in his first interview since the attack.
"I almost died, man," he told Univision, holding back tears. "I was in a coma. People were criticizing me as if I deserved to be killed."
Better known by his nickname "Big Papii," Ortiz was shot at close range in the back at a bar in his native Dominican Republic on June 9. He underwent surgery to remove part of his colon, and his gall bladder and liver were also damaged.
Grainy footage from that night showed a man approach Ortiz and fire. The bullet apparently went through Ortiz and stuck his friend, TV host Jhoel Lopez, as well. They were seen outside the Santo Domingo club before the attack.
The suspect was immediately surrounded by the crowd at the club and beaten bloody before police arrived and arrested him.
"When the bullet hit me, the first thing I felt was like a sting. The first five seconds I thought I was having a nightmare," he said. "I was feeling something that I had never felt before, and that was just the feeling of trying to survive."
RELATED STORIES
