MIAMI (CBSMiami) – An 84-year-old man who was shot in the left thigh by a young robber who demanded his gold necklace says “God saved me.”

“I looked at what happened and I said to myself, God saved me. God saved my life. I really believe that,” said Danis Georges inside his home near Miami Avenue on Northeast 69^th Street.

He spoke with CBS4’s Peter D’Oench moments after he came home from Jackson Memorial, where he was treated for a bullet wound. Pointing to the bandages on his thigh, Georges said “It’s going to be ok. I have to go back over the next 3 weeks or so for checks with the doctor.”

He said he was sitting in a chair outside his home when the young gunman arrived at his home on his bicycle and came through his front gate.

“He came through the front gate in my yard and he said I should give him 50 cents,” said Georges. “I told him no, I have no money. He pushed in my chair and I fell down on the ground. I fell down. Then he had a 9 millimeter gun and after I fell down in the chair, he shot me in the leg.”

Georges was rushed to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“I hope they find whoever did this,” said Georges. “I really do. It would mean a lot to me.”

He did not recognize the gunman and said he did not see his face because it was shielded by a hood.

Georges had been a member of the Miami Police Department’s Citizens on Patrol until two years ago.

He focused on crime prevention and looking for criminals in Little Haiti.

Ironically, this time, a criminal found him.

“I got sick 2 years ago and I couldn’t do it anymore,” he said.

Georges told D’Oench he had lived in the home on Northeast 69^th Street for the past 35 years after coming to the U.S. from Haiti.

“I’m feeling good now,” he said. “I feel much better.”

His cousin, Adolph Matrise, told D’Oench, “I’m not feeling good about this. My cousin was shot. This is not good.”

A neighbor who did not want to show her face and who said her name was Marone told D’Oench she heard the shot that was fired at Georges.

“I saw him on the ground and I screamed because I heard one shot,” said Marone. “We called police. That man he’s been here for a long time and he has always said hi to everybody. He doesn’t have a problem with anybody.”

“I feel very bad for him,” she said. “They need to catch whoever did this and call police. If you know something, call them.”

If you can help Miami Police with this case, call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).