Gunshot gave Davian one more chance
Unlike many persons who would curse their luck after the trajectory of their lives changed drastically after being shot, Davian Tennant has chosen to see his misfortune as a form of rescue.
Tennant was 16 when he was shot at an entertainment venue in the Corporate Area. He was left paralysed from the waist down. Now 33 years old, he said the bullet which 'slowed him down' may have also saved his life.
"Mi see all a mi likkle fren dem dead off and it's like mi glad say mi inna wheelchair. So a mi alone left. So mi know God slow mi down for a purpose and that shot was just for me. Mi never wake up one morning and regret getting shot, because mi know mi never did a listen to mi parents," Tennant said.
Tennant, who now resides in the United Kingdom with his wife Sobrina, recalled the life-changing events of December 27, 2006.
Tennant said he and an uncle planned to attend the show, but after one of his aunts dreamed of someone getting shot, they both changed their minds.
"I was living in Old Harbour at the time so I leave and go to my parents' house in Central Village," he said. Tennant initially went to the Portmore Mall instead with some friends.
"We buy we ticket and go in and when we reach, I remember clearly that Buju Banton was performing and we were there until after 6 in the morning and then everybody walk out," he said.
"When we reach outside, mi hear Mavado come pon di stage and say 'They ain't the real McKoy' and everybody, including myself, start running back inside," he added. But he fell while running, and thought this was due to the muddy ground.
"Then mi realise say mi can't get up, and when I look at my chest, I see bare blood and it was then I realise say I get shot. The crowd start come down pon mi. Mi start get short of breath and dem put mi in an ambulance and mi start say to myself say what mi ago tell mi parents dem say when mi dead because dem did a talk to mi and mi know say mi never did fi deh there suh because mi was just 16 years old," he said. Tennant said that when the doctors called his parents, the family thought he was dead.
"But when they reached, they realised that I just couldn't walk. When dem tell mi say mi nah go walk again, it was like nothing to mi, trust mi. Mi accept say it happen," he said.
The St Catherine native attended White Marl Primary and Junior High School and said his parents were asked to place him at another institution. He was later enrolled at the YMCA where he spent only two months.
"Mi beat up one bwoy and from dat mi nuh go back a school. But mi usually do welding. Mi did still have mi fren dem weh mi and dem a do the wrong ting. When it come on to badness and dem ting deh, mi did know all a that. But mi wife changed mi into a different person. All when mi get shot and inna chair, mi still did a do the wrong thing same way. But God send me a good girlfriend who is now mi wife," he said.
Tennant and Sobrina tied the knot in February 2020. They shared aspects of their love to thousands of followers on their social media pages. As he continues to thank his wife and family for their continued support, Tennant encouraged disobedient youngsters to change their ways.
"Try go to school because with badness, only two things a go happen. Is either you die or yuh go prison. But just like mi when mi a grow up, is the same thing with dem youth ya. Dem nuh take talk. Mi never listen and mi feel it for myself. But mi want dem fi know say dem nuh must lucky like me to survive and have a strong support from family and mi wife," he said.