Quarterback credits local hospital for surviving off-campus shooting
After taking a bullet to the chest
By Kendall Keys, James Paxson
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MOUNT PLEASANT, Michigan (WNEM) — After taking a bullet to the chest, a Central Michigan University quarterback is thanking a local hospital for getting him back on his feet.
Johnathan Keller remembers the night his life nearly ended.
“I didn’t feel any pain or anything like that. All I just remember is dropping. After that, everything was just a blur,” Keller said.
Just off CMU’s campus, a party that Keller was at turned violent
“They come in and they shoot me, and they also shoot my other friend Tyler Bunting as well. After that everything changed,” Keller said.
He took a bullet to the chest, and it pierced his pulmonary artery, lung, and exited out his back. He was on a ventilator for more than a week.
Four months later, he is sharing his tale of making it back from the brink.
“For me, mentally, it was a struggle at first. I can’t say something like this is easy because it’s not. This was the lowest point of my life. I’ve never been through anything like this, never did I expect to be,” Keller said.
He spent about a month at Hurley Medical Center. It has the only level 1 trauma center in the region.
Keller said the nurses and doctors in the trauma center, are the reason he’s alive
“They did everything in their power that they could. And they obviously did an amazing job, that’s why I’m here right now,” Keller said.
Michelle Maxson manages the trauma program at Hurley.
“We have these people come in that are on the brink of maybe not pulling through. Then you see them walk out and go back home and they have a good outcome,” Maxson said.
Now Keller has dreams of hitting the field again, but he is taking things slowly.
“I want to be a college quarterback again but taking the steps to get to that level is where I’m trying to get right now. First is to get myself back to just being myself again,” Keller said.
Keller said he hopes his story shows people anything is possible.
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