The bullet that ended our friendship

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul Rousseau was accidentally shot in the head by his best friend and flatmate.

When Paul met Mark in the first year of university in the US, they quickly became close. They moved in together, and spent most of the next four years in each other's company. But Paul did not know that Mark had been keeping a collection of guns in his bedroom. In April 2017 one of Mark's guns accidentally went off, the bullet passing through two walls before striking Paul in the head. In the months and years that followed, Paul had to deal not only with his brain injury, but also the devastating impact the event had on his friendship with Mark.

Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Rebecca Vincent

Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.7	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.4	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all
0:28.1	put together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:34.9	check out BBC Sounds.
0:43.2	I don't hear anything. I don't see anything. But all of a sudden, I'm knocked into these like chairs on the wall behind me. And I'm on the ground. And my first inclination
0:49.9	was like a bomb went off. And that was my first thought. And then Mark comes out of his room and he's holding a gun.
0:57.6	And I'm like, well, that's weird.
0:59.7	What's he doing with that?
1:00.7	And, you know, his jaws on the floor.
1:03.0	He's cursing, swearing a lot.
1:04.8	And then he comes rushing to me on the ground.
1:07.5	And he's just like, you have to stand up.
1:09.5	And then he's saying, oh, sorry, sorry, etc.
1:12.3	You know, he's sort of going through that.
1:14.7	And my first thought is, oh, oh, no, like, I think he just shot me.
1:27.2	This is Paul Russo, then a final year student at a Midwest university in the US.
1:33.8	The man with the gun, whom we're calling Mark, is his flatmate and best friend, the best friend
1:41.7	Paul has ever had.
1:49.0	Paul and Mark have spent the last four years in each other's pockets,
	...

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