BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

The first news release from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office focused on a child being injured by gunfire. A projectile, later identified as a bullet, struck 12-year-old Diego Duran in the head.

According to police, the child was hit by random gunfire while standing in his front yard watching fireworks. Ms. Sandra Duran was outside of her Ruskin home when she saw Diego fall to the ground bleeding from his nose. He was transported to South Bay Hospital, in Sun City Center, where x-rays revealed the child had been hit in the head by a bullet. His condition has been upgraded since the shooting.

One Tampa man knows what Diego is experiencing. He knows what possibly lies ahead. And, since he is the father of a 12-year-old son, he could relate as a parent as well.

Robbie White said, “I went through the same thing, it touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes when I saw it on the news.”

White said he felt compelled to reach out to the youngster and his family. “The family was ecstatic and surprised that I came out to talk to the boy. He’s in good spirits,” he said.

White was 17 and at the Moses White Estates on New Year’s Eve 1987. He was only 3 miles from home, he recalls.

“People were shooting and I felt a sensation on my neck. I didn’t remember anything else until I woke up in the hospital,” White said.

After being in a coma for two weeks, he spent the next five months in the hospital. The bullet entered the top right side of his head and resulted in paralysis of the left side of his body.

He had to learn how to feed himself, how to walk, how to do everything all over again. “It’s a blessing that I survived,” he said.

At the time of the shooting, White was a senior at Armwood High School and on track for graduation. The injury prevented him from completing the school year.

However, it did not cause him to give up. White attended a summer school session at Chamberlain High School. White then returned to Armwood High School and repeated his senior year, graduating with the class of 1989.

At 42, White holds no grudges. “I forgave the person that shot me a long time ago. You can’t hold grudges. I know God is real,” he said.

However, he has strong feelings about guns. “Through the years, several of my friends have been killed by guns. It’s useless violence.”

White currently works in his family’s auto glass tinting business.