Tumwater Walmart carjacking victim speaks from hospital after given little chance to live

KIRO 7 got exclusive video hearing from the grandfather who was randomly shot outside the Tumwater Walmart in June. Rickey Fievez was given little chance to live after the suspect, Tim Day, tried to carjack him and then shot him, officials said. David George, a trained EMT, shot and killed the suspect and then helped Rickey Fievez survive.

“I just want to thank everyone for their prayers,” Rickey Fievez said in a video taken this week that his son, Tyler Fievez, shared with KIRO 7.

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Eight weeks after the shooting, Rickey Fieviz is showing great progress at Harborview Medical Center.

“We were told that he wasn’t going to make it,” Tyler Fievez told KIRO 7 anchor John Knicely outside the Tumwater Walmart on Tuesday. “They said he was going to be a quadriplegic the rest of his life, he’ll never be able to talk, move.”

Tyler Fieviz was thrilled to share the video with KIRO 7 of his dad this week.

“Making more improvements every day,” Rickey Fievez says in the video as he showed his ability to move now. “Fingers are moving, toes are moving.”

This past week Ricky Fievez got a special visit from George, the pastor and EMT, who shot and killed the suspect and kept Ricky alive until he could be airlifted to Harborview.

“He didn’t want us to say he was a hero,” Tyler Fievez said. “But he saved my mom’s life and my dad’s life.”

The family has raised more than $35,000 toward their $50,000 goal to help pay for what Ricky will need once he's released, Sept. 17. The link to the GoFundMe can be found here.

“There’s going to be lifts that he has to have,” Tyler Fievez said. “There’s going to be wheelchairs, anything to make his life easier. We’re going to have to buy a special vehicle to haul him around.”

The family also bought a new single story house that will help Rickey Fievez get around.

It’ll be a new life for Rickey Fievez as he fights to regain all his movement, but it’s a life he and his family are so grateful was saved.

“Thank you everybody,” Ricky says in the video. “Love you all.”

Cox Media Group