As Gabriel Izcano was leaving a night club with two female friends, they were approached by a car with two guys that were trying to get the women’s attention. The unwanted catcalling forced Izcano to intervene and eventually led to an altercation.
“It was two versus one, so I was stuck fighting both people,” Izcano recalls. “As I was fighting one of the guys, we fell near his car and I could see him scrambling for something, and it was at that moment I knew he was looking for a gun.”
Izcano heard a few shots go off from inside the car then realized he had been shot in the stomach.
“I remember waking up in the hospital to my uncle reading a Bible scripture,” he says.
The bullet lacerated Izcano’s inferior vena cava and liver. He had to have part of his pancreas, small intestine and gallbladder removed. He was intubated for about a week and had to have a pancreaticoduodenectomy, also known as the Whipple procedure, a complex surgery on the pancreas, bile duct and duodenum.
Despite how traumatic his injuries were, Izcano’s recovery has been remarkable.
“Doctors say I was almost dead on arrival and had to be intensely resuscitated for 31 minutes,” he says. “I was in the hospital for 28 days, and was still on a feeding tube when I was released, but I was determined to get back to my normal life.”
Izcano suffers from severe back pain and has to adhere to a completely different diet.
“I have to eat small portions and can’t eat anything fatty or it will make me sick,” he explains.
As soon as his doctors removed all restrictions, Izcano was in the gym immediately. He looks forward to get back to managing his car detailing business. When thinking back to that night after the club, the one thing he would do differently is, “Walk away,” he says.
“If you are truly provoked, of course protect yourself, but for the most part, walk away,” he adds. “Today, I try to avoid confrontation, refrain from any violence, and pray.”