Truck Driver From Indiana Recovers After Being Shot In Oakland
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – A trucker from Indiana spent the holidays recovering at an Oakland hospital, after he was shot in the cab of his truck.
"I was trying to sleep, and someone didn't want me to sleep. He woke me up and shot me," truck driver Jerry Matson told KPIX 5.
The 72-year-old has been at Highland Hospital since December 15th, shot in the stomach by someone breaking into the cab of his truck late at night.
"It's awful. I'm sleeping and get this phone call," said Janet Matson, Jerry's wife.
Jerry resorted to his basic training from the Marines and lunged at the suspect. He said that might have saved his life.
"I think I just caught him so off guard, he didn't know what to do. He just pulled the trigger and left," Jerry said.
In the past, when Jerry has made deliveries to the Coliseum, he's been allowed to stay overnight. But for some reason, that night he wasn't allowed in.
The couple celebrated their 50 year anniversary just one month before he was shot. Now Janet, a retired ER nurse, has been living in and out of hotels near the hospital for weeks to be by her husband's bedside.
"I've been staying at the hospital and I did sleep in the car," Janet Matson said.
After three surgeries and two infections, no one knows when Jerry will be able to go back home.
"Feels like forever…I just want to make sure my wife is okay," Jerry Matson said.
