From the Reagan Diaries:
Monday, March 30 [1981]
Left the hotel at the usual side entrance and headed for the car — suddenly there was a burst of gun fire from the left. S.S. Agent pushed me onto the floor of the car & jumped on top. I felt a blow in my upper back that was unbelievably painful. I was sure he had broken my rib. The car took off. I sat up on the edge of the seat almost paralyzed by pain. Then I began coughing up blood which made both of us think — yes I had a broken rib & it had punctured a lung…. I walked into the emergency room and was hoisted onto a cart where I was stripped of my clothes. It was then we learned I’d been shot & had a bullet in my lung.
Getting shot hurts. …[M]y fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to breathe it seemed I was getting less & less air. I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed. But I realized I couldn’t ask for God’s help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me. Isn’t that the meaning of the lost sheep? We are all Gods children & therefore equally loved by him. I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold….
Whatever happens now I owe my life to God and will try to serve him in every way I can.
–Ronald Reagan
He was one heck of a man!