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Blessing in disguise? (Exercising the Right).


Forty-five years ago, Darrell Deal landed a job as bag boy at the Better Buy Market in Stockton, California Stockton is a city in California and the seat of San Joaquin County (the 5th largest agricultural county in the United States). According to 2007 estimates by the California Department of Finance, Stockton has a population of 289,789 (689,689 MSA) and is the 13th largest city in . Working his way up, he bought the store about 15 years ago and has since become what the February 15th Stockton Record described as "a neighborhood icon." In recent weeks, however, he has been recovering from a life-threatening gunshot wound suffered during an attempted robbery at the market. But this near-tragedy may have been a blessing in disguise.

Shortly after noon on February 14th, two armed men entered the store while Deal and an employee, Hector Lozano, were on duty. Gunfire erupted between Deal (who was armed with a revolver) and at least one of the robbers. One slug grazed the store owner's head, another struck him in the abdomen, and a third bullet hit Lozano's left hand. Three of Deal's shots also found their mark, wounding one of the thugs in the neck and chest.

The bandits fled empty-handed, running down a nearby street before the wounded man Wounded Man in English, 傷追い人 (Kizuoibito) in Japanese, is a seinen manga written by Kazuo Koike and drawn in a Gekiga style by artist Ryoichi Ikegami. , Valdez Franklin, collapsed and died. When police arrived, a .38-caliber semiautomatic handgun was still clutched in his hand.

Franklin's accomplice jumped into a nearby car and fled. An alert witness jotted down the license plate number, however, and police were able to trace the vehicle to Carlos Ojeda. Ojeda remained at large for a few days before surrendering to police on February 19th. He has been charged with murder (because Franklin was killed during the robbery attempt), two counts of attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. , and robbery.

Following the shootout Shootout

Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup.
, Darrel Deal was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. He is slowly recovering, and as strange as it may seem, being shot may have saved his life.

When doctors operated to repair Deal's abdominal wound, they discovered a large aortic aneurysm Aortic Aneurysm Definition

An aneurysm is an abnormal bulging or swelling of a portion of a blood vessel. The aorta, which can develop these abnormal bulges, is the large blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the rest of the
 (a bulge on the wall of the weakened blood vessel blood vessel
n.
An elastic tubular channel, such as an artery, a vein, a sinus, or a capillary, through which the blood circulates.


blood vessel(s),
n the network of muscular tubes that carry blood.
) that could have burst at any time, with virtually certain fatal results. Deal's wife, Beverly, described the discovery as "God's miracle," and son Randy, a pharmacist, agreed that it "was a total blessing they found that." According to Randy Deal, doctors were able to stabilize the aneurism so that further surgery could be postponed until his father recovers from his other injuries.

And the aneurysm aneurysm (ăn`yrĭzəm), localized dilatation of a blood vessel, particularly an artery, or the heart.  was not all. The gunshot cut off blood to a part of Deal's colon, and while working on that problem surgeons discovered another potentially serious medical condition -- diverticulosis diverticulosis, a disorder characterized by the presence of diverticula, which are small, usually multiple saclike protrusions through the wall of the colon (large intestine). , an intestinal disorder in which small pouches in the colon become infected or inflamed. It is treatable without surgery if discovered in time.
COPYRIGHT 2003 American Opinion Publishing, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2003, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Author:Lee, Robert W.
Publication:The New American
Geographic Code:1U9CA
Date:Apr 7, 2003
Words:424
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