David Ortiz on the mend: shooting and recovery

jose melendez

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A friend of mine was shot point blank on Power Street in Providence around Xmas 1995. The bullet entered in his neck, traveled through his torso and lodged somewhere in there, somehow missing everything. He went on to have a completely normal life. Actually, he didn't even miss the start of the new semester.

Miracles happen. But more often they don't.
 

YTF

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This whole thing is just unthinkable. I mean, how could anyone hate David that much? Feels a lot like the attempt on Pope John Paul’s life back in 1981.
I realize the bolded is probably rhetorical, but there a likely things that we are not yet aware of. This appears to be a deliberate attempt to murder Ortiz, there has to be a reason for it.
 

Van Everyman

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Apr 30, 2009
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Im still holding my breath. Every update seems to reveal more bad stuff.
As soon as this report was released, I began preparing myself for the story to change by the minute. It's not just "the media" (which, yes, spends too much time racing to get headlines) -- but more that this story was coming out of the DR, which has a less developed media which is why stories today are often dependent on tweets from family members and the like which are unreliable.

I am hoping, first and foremost, that Papi is healthy and that the latest reports that he is stable and his health is improving are more or less accurate. My second hope is that this was simply some renegade shooter attacking a celebrity ... the suggestion that a police officer may have been involved is very disturbing.
 

canderson

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Jul 16, 2005
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Red Sox holding a press conference at 3:30 p.m. (Monday, June 10 ... since the site was being upgraded posting the date for potential future confusion).

NESN will carry it live.
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
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deep inside Guido territory
James Wagner of NY Times: Although David Ortiz is in stable condition in the D.R., he is expected to be transported in an air ambulance to a Boston hospital later this afternoon, per his assistant Leo Lopez. He was in surgery for 6 hours overnight & his doctors in the D.R. have signed off on the transfer.

Ortiz was sedated, but he woke up this morning and spoke some to his family, per Lopez. The family preferred that Ortiz spend the rest of his recovery in Boston.
 

peeves5478

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Apr 8, 2006
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I don’t have a lot of faith in DM either, but he had a nervous wife waiting at home. If it was true, he and his reps probably don’t want that news getting out.
 

ifmanis5

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amRadio

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I'm not gonna lie, i cried a little bit this morning. Fuck, this is terrible.
I never knew how much David meant to me as a Bostonian until I cried a bit upon learning the news. Just hit me like a gut punch. You're not alone there. A poster on the first couple pages likened this to the John Lennon shooting and I think that about sums it up on an emotional level. My community can't lose David Ortiz. A high school classmate of mine lost his legs in the marathon bombing, when David made his speech at Fenway, I knew what my classmate and his family were going through at the time. There is no athlete or celebrity who will ever command the type of respect I have for David. I'm so glad it seems we - and David, and his family especially - have really been as lucky as luck can be.
 

Jinhocho

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It struck me reading all of this that there has to be a lot more to the rest of the story, whether it was an affair, some kind of criminal linkage, or someone dangerous he offended/seemed an easy target to. It has also left me wondering to what extent they want to get him back to Boston for his own safety. I am not on twitter anymore, so can someone please explain what the rumor/story was about a police officer being involved?

I just hope he is ok.
 

djbayko

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Jul 18, 2005
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Somehow, I didn’t know there was a site upgrade today. Had a little scare this morning with the outage. I raced to news sites to make sure Papi hadn’t taken a turn for the worse.

Also, you’d have to be really, really stupid to (knowingly) mess with a drug lord’s girl, right? Has to be something else, I hope.
 
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Marciano490

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Nov 4, 2007
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Somehow, I didn’t know there was a site upgrade today. Had a little scare this morning with the outage. I raced to news sites to make sure Papi hadn’t taken a turn for the worse.

Also, you’d have to be really, really stupid to (knowingly) mess with a drug lotd’s girl, right? Has to be something else, I hope.
It’s way too early to speculate. I’d imagine though a drug lord would have better assassins. This guy was the Rick Ankiel of hitmen, luckily.
 

Manramsclan

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Jul 14, 2005
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https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/1138177485953208323
“The Lord will be with him.” Alex Cora said of David Ortiz. “I know he will be fine ... pray for him.”
I'm ashamed to say this, but last night when I found out I prayed harder and with more focus than I have ever prayed for anyone ever.

David Ortiz has brought me an intense amount of joy through baseball. Anyone I have ever met who has had dealings with him personally had nothing but effusive praise for the guy. I can't imagine how scary this is for his kids and his family. I hope he makes it back to Boston ok. Traveling in this kind of situation can be tricky.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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IANAD but my dad had a ruptured bowel last fall which required emergency surgery, removal of parts of his colon, and a colostomy bag. Biggest concern was sepsis due to the bowel contents emptying into the open space in his abdomen. I’m sure they’re watching Papi like a hawk to make sure that doesn’t happen or is treated aggressively if it does. My dad had his colostomy reversed a couple months after surgery and is 100% back to normal now so I have high hopes that David will eventually be back to his old self.
 

McBride11

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Jul 15, 2005
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IANAD but my dad had a ruptured bowel last fall which required emergency surgery, removal of parts of his colon, and a colostomy bag. Biggest concern was sepsis due to the bowel contents emptying into the open space in his abdomen. I’m sure they’re watching Papi like a hawk to make sure that doesn’t happen or is treated aggressively if it does. My dad had his colostomy reversed a couple months after surgery and is 100% back to normal now so I have high hopes that David will eventually be back to his old self.
Glad your father recovered, perfed bowel is a bad condition.

The 'benefit' of being shot is that he likely was rushed to the OR more quickly than your father (trauma ex laps happen faster than abdominal pain) and had less contamination hopefully.
The reports seem generally positive which is a good sign.
 

DebSox

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Jul 14, 2005
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Seriously? Check out the forum upgrade thread, it was planned. Not to mention the fact the the guy doing the work is doing it for free.
Sorry, I was not being snarky . Thought we crashed the site with this news and Bruins win. I’ll go back to my corner.
 

bankshot1

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Feb 12, 2003
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IANAD but my dad had a ruptured bowel last fall which required emergency surgery, removal of parts of his colon, and a colostomy bag. Biggest concern was sepsis due to the bowel contents emptying into the open space in his abdomen. I’m sure they’re watching Papi like a hawk to make sure that doesn’t happen or is treated aggressively if it does. My dad had his colostomy reversed a couple months after surgery and is 100% back to normal now so I have high hopes that David will eventually be back to his old self.
I've a similar story.
About 40 years ago unbeknownst to me I had diverticulitis which led to a perforation of my intestine and one helluva an excruiating stomach ache. I got myself over to MGH and after originally diagnosing my pain as appendicitus, they opened me up to remove it,. When I came to, the Dr. told me I had a perfectly fine appendix (they grabbed it any way) but because of the perforation I had peritonitus and was poisoning myself. So after they disinfected my insides, I was in the hospital for 2+ weeks until I had internally healed and could take a crap normally, Peritonitus/sepsis apparently kills lots of people.
 

Bergs

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Jul 22, 2005
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I've a similar story.
About 40 years ago unbeknownst to me I had diverticulitis which led to a perforation of my intestine and one helluva an excruiating stomach ache. I got myself over to MGH and after originally diagnosing my pain as appendicitus, they opened me up to remove it,. When I came to, the Dr. told me I had a perfectly fine appendix (they grabbed it any way) but because of the perforation I had peritonitus and was poisoning myself. So after they disinfected my insides, I was in the hospital for 2+ weeks until I had internally healed and could take a crap normally, Peritonitus/sepsis apparently kills lots of people.
They run an MRI for those symptoms before they cut these days. Same thing happened to me (minus the perforation).

Back on topic, I finally had a moment where it really clicked how close Papi was to being murdered last night. Allergies acted up immediately thereafter..
 

Archer1979

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Would have slept a lot worse if I had heard that it was a shot through the back. When I went to bed, the word was that it was his leg.

The bright side is that he's headed to Boston which has some of the best hospitals in the world. There is no doubt that he'll get the best care available.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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They run an MRI for those symptoms before they cut these days. Same thing happened to me (minus the perforation).

Back on topic, I finally had a moment where it really clicked how close Papi was to being murdered last night. Allergies acted up immediately thereafter..
It really is haunting. The story alone is bad enough but seeing just adds another element of shock. The guy was just so freaking close. So fortunate that he only apparently had a pistol and fired 1 shot. He easily could have been armed with a more powerful weapon. Even multiple pistol shots likely would have mortally wounded him. He missed the key organs once. He probably wasn’t going to miss them again. And a little higher and it’s Lincoln territory. I really hope Papi gets the mental support he’ll need to recover.
 

Hank Scorpio

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Not that I'm at all surprised by it, because it's to be expected with this organization, but it still amazes me that the Red Sox take it upon themselves to ensure Papi gets to MGH safely from the DR.

Goes to show, even though he's not suiting up and playing anymore, he's still a Red Sox - now and forever, he's family.
 

agibson2000

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Jul 17, 2004
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I actually heard about this when I was checking out my fb page when I was getting ready work in the morning (saw videos) there was a few links on there & my jaw dropped, like you guys it scared the piss outta me as well as prayers immediately went up. Once I also read the people within the bar immediately took down the suspect & whipped his ass (I said to myself awesome I hope they beat the sh*t outta him). I told my wife as well & even she couldn’t believe it. Thank GOD he’s going to be ok, and back in Boston. #BigPapiStrong
 

Sampo Gida

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Aug 7, 2010
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Pretty shocking news. A bit late to hear about it but glad it looks like he will be ok. Not sure how losing a gall bladder and parts of a colon affect quality of life, not to mention the psychological damage, but he has the means to deal with those.

As to the motivation, we may or may not learn the truth here. I don't know enough to even speculate.

Guys like Papi don't fly solo. I am sure he had a bunch of friends and a couple of body guards. The guy getting as close as he did means he was known, or the body guards aren't up to the job.

Looks like the DR team did a good job getting Papi stable for transport. Kudos to them. MGH should be able to handle any complications.

As for the Red Sox getting involved, why would anyone be surprised. Its good business for one thing, not to mention the personal history, which probably trumps that
 

Buffalo Head

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Pedro is on MLB Tonight and he broke down and cried talking about David. It was hard to watch. Pedro said he was headed directly to Boston once the show ends.
 

ehaz

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Sep 30, 2007
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The love triangle/drug-kingpin theory is all over the Dominican tabloids and it’s all my relatives are talking about.

That being said, it hasn’t been reported on (to my knowledge) by reputable Dominican news sources. So unless something changes, the Daily Mail is just a rag reporting on a Dominican rag.

Edit: here’s the image that everyone in the DR has been spreading on social media.

24795
 

Brad Sullivan

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Aug 17, 2016
1
Hello Sosh,

This is what finally has me posting here after 7 years of reading the wonderful insight and knowledge most of you provide. I am a better fan of the Sox and baseball as a result. Thank you. I don't post on message boards or participate in social media except for LinkedIn for business.

Big Papi was my 6 year old daughters first Boston athlete she spoke of, or rather yelled about back in 2016 when she was 3. Big Papi Big Papi!!

Now as of yesterday my other 3 year old daughter is asking who is Big Papi Dada? I can't believe this is how she is learning of him.

I spend most of my days at DFCI receiving treatment for stage 4 gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma( now in my system metastasized to my stomach) I don't want to hijack this thread with my problems, rather just give some color to how much I love this man I don't even know. I didn't even cry when I told my sisters and parents about my diagnosis. You have to stay strong for your loved ones when telling them. I noticed a tear rolling down my cheek when I saw the news of David's trauma yesterday.

I pray a lot these days and the big man is in them! Get better brother we all need more Big Papis in our lives.
 

Marciano490

Urological Expert
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Nov 4, 2007
62,312
Hello Sosh,

This is what finally has me posting here after 7 years of reading the wonderful insight and knowledge most of you provide. I am a better fan of the Sox and baseball as a result. Thank you. I don't post on message boards or participate in social media except for LinkedIn for business.

Big Papi was my 6 year old daughters first Boston athlete she spoke of, or rather yelled about back in 2016 when she was 3. Big Papi Big Papi!!

Now as of yesterday my other 3 year old daughter is asking who is Big Papi Dada? I can't believe this is how she is learning of him.

I spend most of my days at DFCI receiving treatment for stage 4 gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma( now in my system metastasized to my stomach) I don't want to hijack this thread with my problems, rather just give some color to how much I love this man I don't even know. I didn't even cry when I told my sisters and parents about my diagnosis. You have to stay strong for your loved ones when telling them. I noticed a tear rolling down my cheek when I saw the news of David's trauma yesterday.

I pray a lot these days and the big man is in them! Get better brother we all need more Big Papis in our lives.
First, best of luck with your treatment. I admire your strength.

Second, I haven’t lived in Boston since like 07, so it’s been really illuminating and meaningful to hear Papi’s impact on people in the city, especially those with children.