Stunning sports activities star, 28, ‘cheats loss of life’ after surviving horror armed theft
A Brazilian sports star is “recovering well” after she “cheated death” when she was shot in the back during an attempted armed robbery
A professional volleyball player is recovering well after she was shot in the back by a bullet that passed straight through her body during an attempted armed robbery as she sat in a car with her parents.
Julia Rocha Marques de Azevedo, who plays for the women’s professional volleyball team of Tijuca Tenis Clube, said the shooting happened on Rua Conde de Bonfim near Rua Henry Ford in Tijuca, a neighbourhood in the north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The athlete said she had been hit in the back during the attack but explained that the bullet did not hit her spinal cord or any organs as it passed through her body and exited, despite coming extremely close.
She said she had been in the car with her parents when three shots were reportedly fired at the vehicle, with one round entering through her back and passing one millimetre from her spine and less than one centimetre from her bladder before exiting her body without causing further internal injuries.
She expressed gratitude to officers from the 6th Military Police Battalion who assisted her and her family at the scene before taking her first to Hospital Badim and then transferring her to Hospital Municipal Souza Aguiar.
Julia has since been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home.
She is being carefully monitored and will need time away from volleyball to heal fully, according to reports.
The player said she felt she had “been born again” after surviving what she described as a near-fatal incident in which her father, who had been driving, had a bullet pass close to his head while another round struck the bodywork of the car.
Her sister later wrote online that the family had almost been “destroyed” during the attack.
Police said they have opened an investigation into the incident, have already taken her statement, and are treating the case as an attempted robbery under the 19th Police Station in Tijuca.
Her club said the player was out of danger, had been promptly treated, was now recovering at home, and was wished a swift recovery.
