DENVER — As Boston fans celebrate after the Celtics were crowned NBA champions, the memory of a similar celebration last summer in Denver is fresh in the minds of 10 people who were injured after the festivity became violent.
One of those 10 was Trejon Hamilton.
"I feel like you can't really take life for granted,” he said.
Hamilton just turned 25 on Monday and appreciates his birthday celebration now more than ever after what he went through last summer. At this time last year, he was recovering in a hospital bed. A shooting had broken out after the Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Championship. He was one of the people hit by the gunfire.
“Last year on my birthday, that was probably one of the most painful days in the hospital," he said. "And just looking back at it now, I’m still blessed to be here."
The shooting happened on Market Street in Denver’s Lower Downtown neighborhood, where thousands of people had gathered. He said he was shot in the leg and the backside. The bullet that entered his backside traveled into his stomach, but never exited. He spent two weeks at Denver Health undergoing four emergency surgeries.
“The first couple months were really tough because everything was fresh,” Hamilton said. “That was tough trying to build up the strength I had before.”
Hamilton said it took him about seven months to recover. He’s now back at work, still dealing with some physical reminders of that day.
“There’s just still a piece of fragment in my leg,” Hamilton said. “Sometimes I can like feel it move upward and then like when it's cold outside, or during difference instances, it really pops out. I have a huge scar on my stomach too.”
While he's still dealing with some slight physical pain, he said the toughest battle is in his head.
"There's many instances where I get forms of PTSD,” he said. “It could be something normal to everyone else, just like a balloon popping or something.”
However, Hamilton said he is trying to live a normal life and overcome his fears. In fact, he recently attended game two of the Nuggets and Timberwolves series with his girlfriend Tina. He felt safe there, but is leery of celebrations.
"My mom told me this year if the Nuggets had won, I was banned from going down there to celebrate. So, it has changed my outlook on things like that. I don't want it to define me, but I don't know. I would probably just go to the parade,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton also feels a unique connection to other gun violence victims now, like his friend Keith Sablan, who was also shot that night and has since recovered.
Hamilton quotes his friend's advice for other gun violence survivors: “Just to be not afraid to let your emotions out and just let people know how you feel about certain situations. People who are there to support you have been very helpful as well.”
Investigators determined that the shooting was drug-related and not connected to the celebration. Ricardo Vazquez was just in court Friday morning for a motions hearing. He will be back in court at the end of August. His trial is set for Nov. 18. Raoul Jones and Kenneth Blakely are set to appear in court at the end of July.