San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall attended practice as a spectator five days after being shot in the chest during an attempted robbery.
Pearsall was struck in the chest and spent one night in the hospital after the shooting in central San Francisco on Saturday. He was released from the hospital on Sunday and was back at the team facility on Monday.
During the early part of practice, Pearsall was seen walking around the field holding a football and interacting with reporters.
“It’s kind of been amazing, just watching him,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “For him to be able to walk around and stuff with that happening, talking to people at the ER, them saying out of like 100 people, two people survive that.
To be able to see him the next day and just that he is able to walk, he’s coming to meetings, he’s doing all that.”
The 49ers placed Pearsall on the non-football injury list, which means he will be out for at least four weeks to give him time to recover both physically and emotionally from the shooting.
Shanahan mentioned that Pearsall plans to take about a week before starting his rehab to get back on the field.
Pearsall was walking alone with shopping bags to his car just after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday when a 17-year-old suspect tried to rob him with a gun in the Union Square area. The suspect was charged with attempted murder in juvenile court on Wednesday.
Police responded quickly, gave emergency medical aid, and arrested the suspect. Witness video showed Pearsall with a large chest wound as he was helped into an ambulance.
Pearsall was lucky that the bullet passed through his body without hitting any organs or nerves.
