SANTA CLARA, Calif., San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall has opened up about one of the darkest moments of his life, recalling the terrifying day he was shot in the chest during an armed robbery near Union Square in 2024, an event he says nearly changed his fate forever.

Pearsall admitted he wasn’t sure if he would survive in the minutes after the gunman fired at point-blank range.

“My adrenaline was rushing. I didn’t really feel pain, it was more like a burning sensation,”

Pearsall told ESPN in a sit-down interview.
“I’m very religious. I’m a Christian. And in that moment I didn’t know if I was going to heaven or hell.”

He said his thoughts immediately went to the people he loves most.

“I kept thinking about my family… wondering if I’d ever tell them ‘I love you’ again.”

On August 31, 2024, Pearsall was placing shopping bags in the back of his car after a nearby autograph signing when he saw someone slowly approaching from the corner of his eye. At first, he assumed it was a fan.

“But then I realized… this guy didn’t look like a fan at all,” Pearsall said.
“He was in all black, hoodie on, and he already had the gun out.”

A brief physical struggle took place before the assailant shot Pearsall once in the chest and ran. Police later arrested a 17-year-old suspect blocks away.

“I had a sleeveless shirt on and you could see everything, the hole, the blood, all of it,” Pearsall recalled.

He remembers looking around desperately for help before San Francisco Police Sergeant

Joelle Harrell arrived and began treating him.

“Seeing her gave me hope,” he said.
“We just breathed, prayed, and she kept telling me, ‘You’re going to be OK, stay strong.’”

A bystander captured video of Pearsall standing upright and walking to a stretcher, something he now laughs about.

“I looked calm, but I was freaking out. In my head it was like, ‘Let’s go, let’s get to the hospital NOW.’”

Pearsall was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where doctors stabilized him. The bullet entered his chest and exited through his back.

Fifty days later, unbelievably, he made his 49ers debut in Week 7 of the 2024 season.

But the road back was brutal.
“Physically it was hard. My arm felt dead, full of scar tissue. A lot of soreness.”

However, he said that wasn’t the real fight.

“The physical pain wasn’t the hardest part. The mental part was,” Pearsall said.
“PTSD is real. I’d get scared for no reason, sounds, movements, little things would trigger memories of that moment. It took over a year for me to feel like myself again.”

For the first time publicly, Pearsall revealed he’s been in regular therapy for more than a year.

“My therapist saved me. My family saved me. And God saved me. I wouldn’t have made it through without them,”

he said.
“There were days when I didn’t feel strong. But they carried me forward.”

This season, Pearsall has appeared in six games, recording 23 catches for 333 yards. After missing time due to a knee injury, he recently returned two weeks ago in the win over Arizona.

Pearsall said it remains a constant effort to move forward to try to heal his post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I want to live a happy life,” Pearsall said. “Reality is, I am here. I’m alive. A lot of good people around me. I shouldn’t be freaking out about certain things, holding myself back from the moments that I could be where my feet are at and enjoying my life.”