WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi has recalled how he died for three minutes after being caught up in a drive-by shooting.
Speaking on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Rikishi Fatu revealed how he was shot at the age of 17 and almost lost his life.
“At 17, I got hit by a drive by shooting and I damn near lost my life. I was dead for three minutes. I woke up in ambulance and all I could see was my mother’s face – being taken to the hospital, I could see my mother’s face. It was really a wake-up call for me. I was in there for two months.”
The former Intercontinental Champion discussed how he got his distinctive torso scar – which was mostly hidden by his ring attire – due to being “shattered inside” from the shooting, before revealing how he was saved by the bullet hitting his rib.
“This scar on my stomach, they had to cut me open, because I was shattered inside. They just said that the bullet, it was a twenty-two, actually hit the side of my rib, which saved my heart. Had that rib not need there, it would have gone through my heart and we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation… My kids were very, very young twins, at the time. My family members were in and out of the hospital, they were just furious. They wanted to find this son of a b***h who did what he did to me. When you’re in the hospital, you’ve got a whole lot of time. You can’t go nowhere… I just feel like I brought a lot of pain to my family.”
The 55-year-old though, admitted he has forgiven the person who shot him, saying he’d like to meet them and that he hopes they’ve learned from what happened.
“Well I hope, I mean, one day, if you’re watching this here, and you think you know who I am, I would like to personally meet you and I would like to… I’m going to say this in case I don’t have a chance to. I forgive you, man. I forgive you for what has happened to me, for what you have done to me. And I hope you can learn from what has happened.”
You can hear the full interview via Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
h/t Metro UK