A Coronado teen is home from the hospital more than a week after he was shot and robbed while selling jewelry through the app OfferUp.
Jacob McKanry, 18, told NBC 7 a good Samaritan saved his life. On Wednesday, friends and family gathered to welcome him home.
Just days ago, McKanry was down in the street suffering from a gunshot wound.
“I just thought of all the things that I hadn’t done yet, and there was a voice just telling me that, you know, I wasn’t gonna die,” said McKanry.
McKanry and his friend had met up with two people to sell a gold chain through the app OfferUp. One of the suspects asked McKanry if he could see the chain, wondering if it was real gold. That suspect then turned to run and McKanry lunged at him, intent on getting his chain back. He said the other suspect pulled out a gun and shot him in the back.
“I heard a giant boom,” said McKanry.
He was shot through his lung, diaphragm, and liver. While his friend was trying to wave down a car, someone stepped in to help.
“There was a lifeguard who had been walking by at that time and he just happened to run over and put his hand on my wound,” said McKanry.
An ambulance took McKanry to the hospital where he was taken into surgery. Friends had texted McKanry’s parents, having heard the news. They rushed over to the scene on Orange Avenue near 9th and 10th streets.
“I collapsed when I saw the look on the police officer’s face when we came up to the scene, it did not look good,” McKanry’s father Chris McKanry said.
Thankfully, Jacob McKanry survived after a successful surgery and now has a recovery ahead. He told NBC 7 doctors decided to leave the bullet lodged in his body because it was so close to his spine.
While police are still looking for the suspects, the McKanry’s family focuses on the good guys like the lifeguard who stopped to help.
“I probably wouldn’t be here right now if he wouldn’t have done that,” said McKanry.
To help the family with the costs of medical care, friends have started a GoFundMe account.
McKanry told NBC 7 he plans to raise safety concerns with the app company.
