Gunshot Victim Davonte Kelly Tosses First Pitch at Citi Field - Rod_Carew29's Blog

Rod_Carew29's Blog

Gunshot Victim Davonte Kelly Tosses First Pitch at Citi Field

Posted on June 23, 2009 at 10:24 PM.

I grew up and still go to this area of East New York/Canarsie, Brooklyn. When I heard this story a couple of Sundays ago, I just shook my head in disbelief. Not because of some ******* randomly firing a gun, but the fact that this young man was at the park, with his team, on a sunny Sunday afternoon and this happened.

I know anywhere and anytime, anyone of us could be a victim of a random gunshot, but where he was, and the time it happened, I just didn't expect it to happen. God is truly good!

Gunshot victim Kelly tosses first pitch
Fifth grader survives taking stray bullet to skull

By Tim Britton / MLB.com

06/23/09 9:06 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Eleven-year-old Davonte Kelly threw out the first pitch at Citi Field on Tuesday night, a little more than two weeks after he was shot in the head by a stray bullet.

Kelly, a fifth grader at P.S. 219 in Brooklyn and a member of the Spring Creek Mets, was preparing for a photograph with his team on June 7 when a 9mm bullet lodged in his skull.

Kelly was released from the hospital later that week, amazed he'd managed to survive.

David Wright, Kelly's favorite player, had a special gift for the youngster, presenting him with a personalized No. 31 jersey.

Tim Britton is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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