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Stories Of Hope After Man Survives Gunshot Wound To Head

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Robert Bozeman, Jr. never expected to walk across the stage at his college graduation.

In fact, there was a time when he wasn't really sure if he'd walk again at all.

"They told me they found me in the middle of U.S. 1," he told Lauren Pastrana as he pointed to the spot in the middle of the road where a street sweeper found his almost lifeless body 11 years ago.

Bozeman had been shot in the head and left to die outside a Cutler Bay night club.

"This was not just a hand gun. This was a semi-automatic," he said. "Police told me there were 18 casings on the ground."

Bozeman was just 21 years old when he was shot. He said it was a Friday night and he had just gotten off from work when he decided to head south to a club that no longer exists today.

Bozeman said he doesn't really remember anything else from that night. He spent five days in a coma at Jackson Memorial Hospital. When he woke up, part of his skull had been removed.

"I open my eyes and I'm in the hospital. I hear music and I'm thinking I'm in heaven," he said.

His mother was by his side as he endured countless hours of physical, occupational and speech therapy.

He had to relearn how to walk and talk, and after that, he decided to keep on learning.

Bozeman went to college, first at Miami-Dade and then at Florida International University, where he graduated last December with a communications degree.

"There were times I thought about giving up when I failed a class. I thought, 'This is not for me.' But my mom said, 'Okay, you failed it. Just to pass it the second time around. You're going to learn a little bit more than everybody else 'cause you did it twice'."

That same sense of humor serves Robert well when he shares his story with new people.

"When I go out and I would take off my hat and the crowd would go (gasps) shocked. I'd say, 'You know what. I understand. You've never met the sexiest half-headed brother in the world'."

Today, Robert's skull has been reconstructed, but he still has some issues with his vision.

More than a decade later, he still doesn't know who shot him or why, but he said he forgives him.

"I've learned the value of life. I've learned to forgive others when they do things and hold it against them. One of the greatest build-ups of stress is un-forgiveness," he told Pastrana.

He had never returned to the scene until just last week. A donut shop now marks the spot where Bozeman said his first life ended.

"That night I did die and everything that came with me, the mindset, the revenge, died there on the scene. That person is no longer me," he said.

He said his new life started when he woke up from that coma, and he's considered himself a survivor ever since.

"What makes me a survivor is my ability to let go of the past and what's been done to me," Bozeman said. "Surviving is not just about you being alive. It's more than that. It's about you being able to see what's happened to you, take from that, and help other."

Robert is doing just that.

He uses his personal experience in his campaign to end gun violence, and he talks to young people about the value of their lives.

His work earned him the title of "Anti-Violence Ambassador" from Miami-Dade County's Black Affairs Advisory Board.

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