How David Ortiz’s Near-Death Experience Changed the Way He Thought About Life

David Ortiz spent two decades in Major League Baseball learning to expect the unexpected. Fastballs, bad hops, hostile crowds and the pressure of October baseball were all things Big Papi could prepare for.

But on a Sunday night in June 2019, while back home in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz found himself in a situation no amount of preparation could have anticipated. What happened over the next few minutes nearly cost him his life and would eventually change the way he thought about being prepared for the unexpected.

A Sunday Night in the Dominican Republic

Ortiz was back in the Dominican Republic that June, spending a Sunday evening at the Dial Bar and Lounge in East Santo Domingo. He was sitting outside with a small group of friends, including television host Jhoel López and longtime friend Sixto David Fernández.

At around 9:20 p.m., the night changed in an instant. A man approached Ortiz from behind and fired once at close range. The bullet passed through Ortiz’s torso before striking López in the leg.

In the days that followed, the question of why Ortiz had been shot became almost as complicated as the attack itself. Dominican authorities concluded that Ortiz had been mistaken for Fernández, who was sitting nearby.

Ortiz was never entirely satisfied with that explanation. A private investigation he later commissioned raised the possibility that he had been deliberately targeted, leaving two different accounts of what led to the shooting.

The Crucial Minutes After the Shot

One of the people who helped Ortiz in those crucial first minutes was a stranger who rushed him to the hospital. Ortiz later recalled the man keeping him conscious and talking as they made their way to get medical help.

Doctors in Santo Domingo rushed Ortiz into surgery, removing his gallbladder and repairing damage caused by the bullet.

Once he was stable enough to travel, Ortiz was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where doctors operated again and began treating the injuries he had suffered.

For a while, it appeared that Ortiz had made it through the worst of his recovery. Then, about three weeks later, complications from a bacterial infection sent him back into surgery for a third time.

For weeks, eating was difficult, and his recovery stretched far beyond the initial shooting. Surviving the attack had been the first challenge. Recovering from everything that followed became another.

A Different Kind of Recovery

Healing physically was only part of Ortiz’s recovery. He later spoke about how the shooting changed the way he moved through the world, making him more watchful and less trusting than he had been before.

That was a significant adjustment for someone known for talking to strangers, joking with fans and carrying the easy familiarity that helped make Big Papi one of baseball’s most recognizable personalities.

The experience also came after losses Ortiz already knew well.

His mother, Angela Rosa Arias, died in a car accident in 2002 at age 46, while Ortiz was still building his baseball career. Her sudden death stayed with him for years. Later, Ortiz lost his father, Leo, after a battle with cancer.

Then, in 2019, Ortiz came frighteningly close to leaving his own family behind.

After experiencing sudden loss in his own family and nearly losing his life himself, mortality was no longer something distant. He had seen firsthand how quickly an ordinary day could change the shape of a family.

Redefining His Version of Being Prepared

For much of Ortiz’s life, being prepared meant knowing what might come next. In baseball, that meant studying pitchers, sticking to a routine and trusting the work he had already put in.

Life turned out to be much less predictable.

Losing his mother suddenly had already changed the way Ortiz thought about protecting his family. He has spoken about how that experience led him to think more seriously about life insurance and what would happen to the people he loved if he were no longer there.

Coming close to death himself years later gave that responsibility an entirely different perspective.

That connection eventually became part of Ortiz’s work with Ethos, where he has spoken about his own experiences with loss, family and the importance of preparing for the people who depend on you.

There is still plenty of Big Papi in the person fans see today. The easy smile, the humor and the larger-than-life personality are still there.

But his idea of being ready has changed. It is no longer only about anticipating what might happen next. It is also about accepting that sometimes you can’t, and doing what you can now for the people who would have to carry on without you.

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