Ricky Pearsall is mostly safe and sound after being the target of an armed robbery at Union Square that left him with a gunshot wound to the chest. And the police officer whose quick response saved the San Francisco 49ers rookie wideout's life is getting a message of gratitude from one of his teammates.
Late on Monday, Deebo Samuel sent this message directed towards Sgt. Joelle Harrell:
Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle about how she tended to Pearsall during the incident, Harrell said:
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“I was using my hand for the front just to create a suction so the air wouldn’t enter the wound.”
When he started fearing that he was dying, she assured him:
“You’re strong. Just focus on the breathing.”
And he did, ensuring his survival. Pearsall has since gone to the reserve/NFI list and is expected to miss four games. In his place, the 49ers signed tackle Brandon Parker to bolster the offensive line behind Brock Purdy and Christan McCaffrey.
Arizona boy with Ricky Pearsall's old cellphone number received "Get well soon" texts after rookie wideout's robbery incident
Amid the near-tragedy that Ricky Pearsall suffered over the weekend, there was something humorous and light-hearted that happened.
Over in Arizona, where he played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe from 2019 to 2021, 12-year-old Lincoln Schreck had been enjoying having the first cellphone of his life. Two months before the incident, he had activated a new number for it.
When he received a "Get well soon" message, he shrugged it off, thinking it to be "weird", or "nothing". But as the inbox continued to get filled with similar messages, he and his mother Lindsay slowly realized that something was amiss:
"They were like, you know, hope he had a good time at camp. We didn't put together. The camp was probably training camp for the NFL. We thought it was some kid going to summer camp," Lindsay Schreck said per Fox10 Phoenix.
"Just trying to get their message to whatever they thought this was, Ricky's number, and to tell him that they hope that he gets better and that they know it's a tragic time. They are just praying for him."
Eventually, Lincoln decided to respond to one of the senders with "Wrong number." That was when he realized that his old number originally belonged to Ricky Pearsall.
Lindsay has since said that her son "couldn't get a more interesting first cell phone experience."
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