David Ortiz, retired MLB star, recounts being shot in the Dominican Republic: "I want to know who did this"



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Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz gave his first interview in English since an almost fatal shooting at a bar in his Dominican Republic in June.

Ortiz, 43, sat with the Boston Globe at Fenway Park last week, explaining that he was determined to find out who was responsible for the shooting that had done several surgeries and left him nailed to the hospital. bed in the hospital for nearly seven weeks.

The MLB star, known for 20 years as "Big Papi," made her first public appearance since shooting last Monday, when he launched the first pitch in Fenway.

DAVID ORTIZ LAUNCHES FIRST PITCH AT FENWAY PARK MONTH AFTER TURNING

"I want to know who did that," Ortiz told the Boston Globe. "I will not sit and relax if someone wants to kill me."

"I will not sit and relax if someone wants to kill me."

– David Ortiz

"I do not know why I was involved in something like this because I'm not the kind of person who is looking for problems or who's involved," he told the newspaper. "All that concerns me, is to try to help people, to try to do what is right."

Eleven people, whom Ortiz said did not recognize the existence, were arrested as a result of the shooting at Santo Domingo's Dial Bar on June 9, where the former professional baseball player was touched at close range while his back was turned from an identified armed man who fled the scene.

Ortiz said he hired former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis to investigate the case after Dominican officials issued contradictory reasons why he was shot dead. The authorities of the Caribbean island nation now blame the shooting for an erroneous identity case. Ortiz also told the Globe how he had lived moments in the hospital, "feeling like I was going to die.

"I was always having nightmares about being in the desert, looking for water," Ortiz told the newspaper. "I woke up with a dry mouth and felt like I was dying."

"I woke up with a dry mouth and felt like I was dying."

– David Ortiz

"I felt that if I did not die, I would never be the same," he said. "I went through hell with that." Ortiz also congratulated the medical staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital for having assured him that he would survive.

The Red Sox had flown Ortiz from the Dominican Republic to the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he had undergone several surgeries to treat his injured intestines and liver. He also underwent surgery in the Dominican Republic the day before his transportation to Boston.

He said he contracted an acute and dangerous bacterial infection during his hospital stay in Boston and had to replace the food with Jello and pieces of ice, which caused him to lose about 20 kilograms. He was released on July 27 – nearly seven weeks after being shot.

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Dominican police now believe that a drug dealer and a fugitive named Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez offered to pay 30,000 US dollars for the murder of his cousin David Fernandez after he passed on information to the authorities. Fernández was sitting next to Ortiz in the disco at the time of the shooting. Authorities initially reported that a bonus of $ 7,800 had been paid to Ortiz for unknown reasons, according to the New York Post.

Ortiz must resume his work as an analyst at Fox Sports for the next MLB playoffs. He began his career with the Minnesota Twins, then spent 14 years with the Red Sox and is one of the most popular players in the history of the team. He was a key player in three World Series winning teams in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Ortiz, 10-time All-Star, finished his career career with 541 home runs and 1768 RBIs.

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