BECKLEY, W.Va. — His memory is as vivid as the night the incident happened.
Alvin Mitchell, the Mountain State guard who was shot eight times, remembers the whole thing.
"I remember coming from The Corner Shop, seeing the suspects roll up and open fire," Mitchell said Tuesday night at Charleston Area Medical Center, from which he is being released Thursday.
Mitchell was shot eight times. Martrell Mitchell, no relation, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, malicious wounding, two counts of wanton endangerment and conspiracy stemming from the shooting. It allegedly started as a verbal altercation at The Corner Shop.
"I remember thinking after I was hit the first time, just get in the (basketball) house," Mitchell said. "I remember making it to Nick's (Aldridge) room and telling him to take me to the hospital."
It was a ride he'll never forget.
"I never lost consciousness," Mitchell said. "We talked the whole way to the hospital. I remember telling him that if he could get me to the hospital, I believe I would live."
Not only did he survive the horrific ordeal, but he is also being released months ahead of schedule.
Doctors originally thought Mitchell would be bedridden for three months.
But he is already standing, wheeling himself around the hospital and playing PlayStation.
"Three weeks ago he couldn't even move his fingers," MSU coach Bob Bolen said. "It's amazing. Unbelievable."
His mother, Paulette Brown, used another word.
"It's a miracle," said Brown, who has been by her son's side since arriving at CAMC from Florida some 11 hours after the Dec. 3 shooting. "I would never have thought that he'd be up, playing PlayStation and done all that he's done; it's a blessing."
Brown still remembers getting the call from Bolen the night the shooting occurred.
"Coach (Bolen) said I started screaming," she said. "You never expect to get that call. I was asleep. He didn't go to New York, he didn't go to California. He went to Beckley, West Virginia. The crime rate is 2%. So you think, 'That's pretty good.' I thought he was safe."
Mitchell attributes his speedy recovery to the fact he is an athlete.
"I think that helped me heal faster," he said. "I'm in pretty good shape. My swelling is down, my arms are healing up fine and the doctors say I'm weeks, maybe even months, ahead of the normal healing process."
He said he intends to return to Beckley from Florida, in March, and he definitely intends to play for the Cougars again next season, despite reports to the contrary.
"A lot of people aren't in my shoes," Mitchell said. "A lot of people are making guesses due to the stories they've heard. They haven't seen me, haven't talked to my doctors. I would tell people not to be so skeptical. I might be back before they know it."
Mitchell, 22, said doctors have told him he should be ready to rehab within a few weeks.
"Basketball is in the back of my mind, but the main thing is getting out of the hospital and getting home (to Florida) and around family," he said.
He said he has received an outpouring of well-wishes and prayers from the basketball community in Beckley and Charleston. That includes his own coaches and teammates as well as University of Charleston coach and Mullens native Greg White, former UC star and Charleston area Fellowship of Christian Athletes Director Keith Tyler and Beckley FCA Director Mike White.
"I have a great support base and a lot of people who care," Mitchell said. "I really appreciate the concern and the prayers."
So does his mother.
"I have met a lot of great people in West Virginia," she said. "Coach Bolen is the greatest. Roslyn Artis (MSU's vice president of university advancement) has been so thoughtful. When I got here, I had Florida clothes. I wasn't thinking about a coat. And she went out and got me a nice coat.
"The coaches have been great and the players have been great."
She said her son has a picture taken with Aldridge pinned above his bed.
"He really is a hero," she said. "He saved his life."
Mitchell said he harbors no ill-will against the alleged assailant.
"I wouldn't say I have any built-up hate," he said. "But as a criminal justice major, I believe in the justice system. Having high criminal justice morals, I believe, when the truth comes out, I will be justified."
His mother, who has a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old at home, is just glad he's coming home.
"You can't really explain it," she said. "But we love each other and love conquers all. So we're going to make it. And don't count him out. Alvin has determination and a heart of gold."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2010-01-07-mountain-state-mitchell_N.htm
Alvin Mitchell, the Mountain State guard who was shot eight times, remembers the whole thing.
"I remember coming from The Corner Shop, seeing the suspects roll up and open fire," Mitchell said Tuesday night at Charleston Area Medical Center, from which he is being released Thursday.
Mitchell was shot eight times. Martrell Mitchell, no relation, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, malicious wounding, two counts of wanton endangerment and conspiracy stemming from the shooting. It allegedly started as a verbal altercation at The Corner Shop.
"I remember thinking after I was hit the first time, just get in the (basketball) house," Mitchell said. "I remember making it to Nick's (Aldridge) room and telling him to take me to the hospital."
It was a ride he'll never forget.
"I never lost consciousness," Mitchell said. "We talked the whole way to the hospital. I remember telling him that if he could get me to the hospital, I believe I would live."
Not only did he survive the horrific ordeal, but he is also being released months ahead of schedule.
Doctors originally thought Mitchell would be bedridden for three months.
But he is already standing, wheeling himself around the hospital and playing PlayStation.
"Three weeks ago he couldn't even move his fingers," MSU coach Bob Bolen said. "It's amazing. Unbelievable."
His mother, Paulette Brown, used another word.
"It's a miracle," said Brown, who has been by her son's side since arriving at CAMC from Florida some 11 hours after the Dec. 3 shooting. "I would never have thought that he'd be up, playing PlayStation and done all that he's done; it's a blessing."
Brown still remembers getting the call from Bolen the night the shooting occurred.
"Coach (Bolen) said I started screaming," she said. "You never expect to get that call. I was asleep. He didn't go to New York, he didn't go to California. He went to Beckley, West Virginia. The crime rate is 2%. So you think, 'That's pretty good.' I thought he was safe."
Mitchell attributes his speedy recovery to the fact he is an athlete.
"I think that helped me heal faster," he said. "I'm in pretty good shape. My swelling is down, my arms are healing up fine and the doctors say I'm weeks, maybe even months, ahead of the normal healing process."
He said he intends to return to Beckley from Florida, in March, and he definitely intends to play for the Cougars again next season, despite reports to the contrary.
"A lot of people aren't in my shoes," Mitchell said. "A lot of people are making guesses due to the stories they've heard. They haven't seen me, haven't talked to my doctors. I would tell people not to be so skeptical. I might be back before they know it."
Mitchell, 22, said doctors have told him he should be ready to rehab within a few weeks.
"Basketball is in the back of my mind, but the main thing is getting out of the hospital and getting home (to Florida) and around family," he said.
He said he has received an outpouring of well-wishes and prayers from the basketball community in Beckley and Charleston. That includes his own coaches and teammates as well as University of Charleston coach and Mullens native Greg White, former UC star and Charleston area Fellowship of Christian Athletes Director Keith Tyler and Beckley FCA Director Mike White.
"I have a great support base and a lot of people who care," Mitchell said. "I really appreciate the concern and the prayers."
So does his mother.
"I have met a lot of great people in West Virginia," she said. "Coach Bolen is the greatest. Roslyn Artis (MSU's vice president of university advancement) has been so thoughtful. When I got here, I had Florida clothes. I wasn't thinking about a coat. And she went out and got me a nice coat.
"The coaches have been great and the players have been great."
She said her son has a picture taken with Aldridge pinned above his bed.
"He really is a hero," she said. "He saved his life."
Mitchell said he harbors no ill-will against the alleged assailant.
"I wouldn't say I have any built-up hate," he said. "But as a criminal justice major, I believe in the justice system. Having high criminal justice morals, I believe, when the truth comes out, I will be justified."
His mother, who has a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old at home, is just glad he's coming home.
"You can't really explain it," she said. "But we love each other and love conquers all. So we're going to make it. And don't count him out. Alvin has determination and a heart of gold."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2010-01-07-mountain-state-mitchell_N.htm
