A brief, but exciting note about yours truly

Where to begin....

As many of you probably know by now, about two months ago I ~~was gunned down in cold blood~~ bravely robbed three bullets of their deadly momentum... and somehow found myself in the hospital as a result.

I was raised in a culture of irony, so now, more than two months later, I often speak flippantly about what happened, but I do owe all of you, my friends and readers, a more earnest update so here goes: In the early hours of July 2, two youngish muggers approached me and a friend of mine in Adams Morgan, demanding our phones. We were probably a bit less compliant with their demands than I'd imagine an expert would have recommended, but we by no means escalated the situation. For my part, I put my phone back into my pocket and tried to convince the kids--I emphasize kids--that they didn't want to do what they were doing.

My read, though, is that the two saw our intransigence as a sign of disrespect, and so, when the encounter had reached something like the 10-second mark, one passed a smallish gun (I believe a .25 caliber) to the other and, as they both gave up on the robbery and began to run away, the latter fired at me, almost as an afterthought, at a distance of about 3 or 4 feet.

Adrenaline is a fascinating chemical, because all I knew for sure after the sound of the gunshots had registered in my brain, was that I'd been abruptly knocked down (keep that in mind next time you see somebody respond to a gunshot in a movie by staggering mildly backwards... bullets have MUCH more momentum than that). When I got up, my shoulder was a little sore, and the wind was knocked out of me, but I was alert and strong enough to run away from the direction my attackers fled. One block of high-tailing it later, I noticed that my shoulder was wet with blood. By block two, I'd become weak, and tired, and set upon by an unfamiliar, violent species of pain--at which point it dawned on me that the situation was probably more dire than I'd first thought. I didn't know then that I'd been hit three times and twice on the left side of my chest. But I also realized that I was experiencing more than just a little shoulder pain.

As the result of the shooting I suffered a collapsed lung, two cracked ribs (one which now neatly encases a bullet that I will likely sneak through metal detectors for the rest of my life), a perforated stomach, a ruptured diaphragm, and the loss of my spleen and six-and-a-half of my eight units of blood. I carry with me, now, a number of scars that I'm none-too-happy to wear, including an eight-inch-long incision down my chest and an exit wound on my back so close to my spine that I'm sometimes surprised that the concussive force didn't paralyze me, even though the bullet didn't actually make contact.

More than two months later, though, I'm much, much better. I still can't really exercise, and a bit of lingering nerve damage on the left side of my body makes the heat a little bit difficult to bear, but I will soon be as healthy as I was before the... incident... and so the whole unlucky episode is tinctured, I suppose, with a bit of good luck, even though I can't really say I feel all that lucky.

Those are the rough details, because I've learned by now that even the politest of people eventually get around to asking for them anyhow. And, of course, it's natural for people to be curious. But this post is mainly to let you all know that my recovery has gone about as well as it could have, and to express my gratitude for the outpouring of good will and gifts from many of my friends--including many of readers--all of whom I've tried to thank personally but a number of whom I've probably missed. For that I apologize. All of it was essential to my healing.

It's still a rare day when what happened doesn't come up in conversation, but I'm usually happy to discuss it. Decades from now, I'll still be reminded frequently--in the shower, at the gym, before bedtime, on all those happy occasions when I bare my chest to the world--that it happened, so there's really no sense in trying to bury it by avoiding inquiries. But I'm also more and more able, as time goes on, to do a days worth of chores (or follow the election) without getting distracted by reminders. And in that spirit, I'll be returning, gingerly, to this site for the time being--an outlet for some writing and reporting so that I don't completely lose touch with the things I was working on earlier in the year.

Cheers, and thanks for reading.

Comments

very nice to have you back Brian and even better to hear you're recovering nicely.

Posted by: Jake on September 15, 2008 04:04 PM

That WAS an exciting note! Anyway, glad to see you back on the inter-horse.

Posted by: Tom on September 15, 2008 04:24 PM

Seeing your blog pop up in my Google Reader just now was a very pleasant surprise. Very glad to have you back Brian.

Posted by: Steve Balboni on September 15, 2008 05:37 PM

Wow man. Welcome back. I'm happy to see that you'll be carrying on and healing along the way. Cheers!

Posted by: yonas on September 15, 2008 07:01 PM

Great to hear you're doing well. Welcome back!

Posted by: Ian Valentine on September 15, 2008 07:41 PM

Grrr...I am in no way blaming you for what happened, but damn. Even non "experts" will tell you to just give up your stuff. Holy cow, there is now way that phone you were carrying (even if it was a gold-encrusted iPhone) is worth getting shot for. Seriously, I'm not trying to be confrontational but why not just give up the phone? Surely you've been in D.C. long enough to know that....

Posted by: Adams Morgan on September 15, 2008 09:06 PM

Uh. Yeah. AM. There was no gun at first. Just two teenage kids. The gun came later, and was fired almost immediately.

Posted by: Brian on September 15, 2008 09:50 PM

@Adams Morgan - hmmm, maybe not the right time or place? Dude got shot 3 times. I don't want to speak for him but I'm pretty sure he agrees that giving up a phone is better then getting shot.

Posted by: Jake on September 15, 2008 10:19 PM

If we'd given up our phones and they shot, gang initiation style, anyhow, I'd be dead.

Posted by: Brian on September 15, 2008 10:29 PM

50 Cent ain't got shit on you. Welcome back.

Posted by: tracy on September 15, 2008 10:59 PM

Glad you are feeling better. Were the kids who shot you ever caught?

Posted by: Sean on September 16, 2008 07:15 AM

Nope!

Posted by: Brian on September 16, 2008 07:42 AM

Sweet!

Posted by: Sean on September 16, 2008 08:57 AM

Go DC!

Posted by: Brian on September 16, 2008 09:03 AM

It seems to me the obvious question is: "So are you republican now?"

Posted by: Keith on September 16, 2008 09:53 AM

Life sometimes sucks, but every day you can breathe and shit on your own is infinitely better than being dead.

Posted by: Mason on September 16, 2008 09:57 AM

Youngish muggers? They are criminals and if there is any justice, will get theirs. Maybe they'll get more than theirs, like being shot dead. I'm so sorry for all you went through, just living your life among scum and animals.

Posted by: Sasha on September 16, 2008 10:17 AM

I guess diplomacy doesn't always work.

Posted by: JB on September 16, 2008 10:27 AM

glad you're back brian. read about this on dcist. the girls on fairmont were definitely thinking about you.

Posted by: el on September 16, 2008 10:53 AM

I think about you every time I walk past that corner. Glad you're back, Brian, and very glad to hear you're feeling better.

Posted by: Rachel on September 16, 2008 11:07 AM

so fantastic that you're blogging again! welcome back Brian.

Posted by: Sarah on September 16, 2008 12:20 PM

I was shocked (really!) when I heard of the shooting and your injuries, and several times recently I've wondered when (if?) you would return to DC blogging and reporting.

It truly is good to hear from you again, and your report answered almost all of my questions (nosey as I always am). Remaining question: what does the absence of a literal spleen mean for your health going forward?

I'll surely add you back in to my blog reading (and sometimes comments) now that you've returned.

Will you be returning to the Media Consortium?

Best wishes for the fullest possible recovery.

jim

Posted by: JimPortlandOR on September 16, 2008 05:43 PM

Sounds like someone was too hard for bullets! I haven't met you, but if I do I will stand you and the shrapnel whatever you're having.

Posted by: TMarchman on September 16, 2008 06:30 PM

Congratulations. Living through something like that ... well, it guarantees you a subject for conversation for the rest of your life.

Posted by: Brian Z on September 16, 2008 06:51 PM

Congrats on your return and glad to hear things are getting back to normal, sort of.

A remaining question: have they found any suspects?

Posted by: Klug on September 16, 2008 07:26 PM

Glad to hear that you're recovering.

They'd have shot you regardless. Compliance doesn't buy you anything w/ this type of criminal. They shot you because they knew that you wouldn't retaliate.

Posted by: Moe on September 16, 2008 07:44 PM

Nice to have you back Brian!

Posted by: Liam on September 17, 2008 02:56 AM

Welcome back. Please continue to speak truth to power. Cover the stories and travesties that others miss. And do so in your wonderful and snarky voice.

Posted by: Reid Cramer on September 17, 2008 09:21 AM

Can everyone stop with the second guessing?

When two armed kids walk up to a stranger and start demanding stuff, they obviously have shit for brains. Yeah, I'm sure a jedi master could play a mind trick on them that would ensure the situation does not get worse. But for those of us who ain't Obi Wan, it's really up to shit for brains whether or not you get shot.

So please do the guy who actually got shot the courtesy of not lecturing him with: "oh, you should have handled it like I read once in a 'how to talk to your mugger' book!"

Posted by: anonymiss on September 17, 2008 02:23 PM

If it's any comfort, in addition to free drinks you could probably get laid with that story too. Congratulations on the good progress.

Posted by: db on September 17, 2008 05:00 PM

Excellent news. Continued best on your recovery.

Posted by: AndrewBW on September 17, 2008 05:44 PM

Welcome back Brian. I've enjoyed your commentary on various sites (most of all Grist).

I was once on the receiving end of a mugging attempt by two kids. I didn't give them anything either (I had just gotten money at the ATM and resented the idea of giving it up). Somehow I made it out of the situation with no punches thrown, no knives or guns drawn. Hearing your story I am chastened, and instead of looking back on my ridiculous story with a sort of smug pride, I realize a little more how fucked up and unpredictable the world is.

I'm sorry to hear about what those confused little snots did. Whenever I'm on the receiving end of a sketchy or frightening situation with young poor punks, it makes me sad for all the separations of our world, and all the injustices of the past which are so often hidden from our privileged lives but which do their dirty work and build on each other whether or not we see them, until we get the observable results, these seemingly random societal explosions.

We got a lot of shit to do to make the world more whole. It's messed up what happened to you and I hope you can find a way to situate it in your life in a way that has meaning for you. Good luck man, and welcome back to the intertubes.

Posted by: mk on September 17, 2008 11:13 PM

good to have you back Brian. We missed you.

Posted by: Steve on September 18, 2008 12:31 AM

Brian, as one survivor to another: congratulations! Coming back, piecing together a normal life after such an event, is no small thing.

Welcome back!

Posted by: Dana Hunter on September 18, 2008 05:12 AM

Crikey. I'm a first-timer in this space. Over the great distances that separate us, my deepest congratulations on your victory over the enemy without. Strength!

Posted by: Jassalasca Jape on September 18, 2008 06:39 AM

Brian, I'm a fan of your work and can't say how happy I am that you've recovered and appear to be taking all this in stride.

Now buy a gun.

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