Update: Champs 2022 | ‘I could barely walk’
Gunshot victim elated to be in 100-metre semi-final
Published:Wednesday | April 6, 2022 | 12:14 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
CALABAR’S HIGH school sprinter Nicholas Newby was an emotional figure after advancing to the semi-finals of the boys’ Class One 100 metres at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) at the National Stadium and he had more reasons to be pleased than most.
Newby, a former Edith Dalton James High School student, was shot in his right leg on Red Hills Road last month, in what was described as a case of mistaken identity.
The 19-year-old was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was told by the doctors that the bullet had flown through his leg. He was admitted to the hospital for a few days before being released.
“Emotionally and physically, it (gunshot) affected me a lot because I didn’t know that I would be able to compete at Champs this year,” said Newby.
“It was tough for me because after I received the gunshot, I fell to the ground and I was out and didn’t know what happened after that. I didn’t know if I was going to die or anything like that,” he said.
“I am just grateful for life, and I had to be very brave because this is what I wanted. Track and field is my life and I am not going to let anyone or anything stop me from doing what I love to do,” Newby said.
Competing in his final year at Champs, Newby advanced to the semi-finals of the boys’ Class One 100m after finishing fourth in heat eight in 11.00 seconds. The race was won by Hector Benjamin from Jamaica College in 10.75.
HEALTHY
He added that despite his failure to break the 11-second barrier in the heat, he was happy to have finished the race healthy and is looking forward to the semi-finals of the event.
“To come out here and run in 11 seconds flat is not really bad because after I got shot, I missed training for a few days and so that affected my preparations a lot coming into Champs,” Newby said.
“After I got shot I could barely walk and I was crying a lot but my coaches believed in me and they stuck with me and I was able to come back and now I am here at Champs competing for my school,” he said.
“I am just going to go out there in the semi-finals and do my best and hopefully I will be able to get into the final,” he said.
Editor's Note: A previous edition of this story had ascribed the shooting to a policeman, however, an investigation by the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom), revealed the police were not involved in the shooting and, in fact, were the ones who assisted in getting Newby medical treatment.