Tarek Naggar was due to marry Cebu native Angie on Saturday, July 22, but those plans were ruined just two days before the wedding. The 44-year-old was outside a bar in Cebu City, Philippines early Thursday morning when he was confronted by three men on a motor scooter. Naggar was with his fiancée and best man when the robbers demanded he hand over his wallet.
After refusing to give it up, one of the robbers pulled out a pistol and shot him in the chest. They managed to make off with the wallet in the process, which contained various credit cards and local currency worth only around 10 USD.
Ambulance never showed up
Naggar's best man Chris McLaughlin -- who had flown out of Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire to bring him a kilt for the wedding -- claims that the shooter also pointed the gun at him. After snatching the wallet, however, the robbers made haste and left the 40-year-old alone. McLaughlin says an ambulance was called for but never showed up to the scene. With his friend's life on the line, they had no choice but to wave over anyone that could help them.
Naggar's fiancée waved down taxis, but none of them stopped to pick them up. McLaughlin stayed by Naggar who was conscious and lying on the pavement, bullet still in his chest. After about ten minutes, a man on a rickshaw pulled over on the side of the street to pick them up.
They were taken to a nearby emergency room before being transferred to a larger hospital. There, Naggar underwent surgery.
Bullet barely missed his heart
After surgery, the surgeon said that the bullet went in through the victim's right side but ricocheted. It then went over to Naggar's left lung where it got lodged. The bullet just narrowly missed his heart, having travelled around behind it instead.
Following the surgery, he was put on a life-support machine and remained in the ICU to recover.
Recovering well
Naggar has been moved out of the ICU and into a recovery room as of Sunday, July 23. He is reportedly conscious and awake, being able to talk without much problem. The surgeon stated that his survival and recovery process has been miraculous.
Naggar does not have health insurance in the Philippines to cover the costs of all the medical procedures he had undergone. His family has already needed to make payments for the treatment and procedures. A friend of Naggar's has set up a crowd-funding appeal to raise the money needed to cover the procedures, which apparently amount to £10,000 (around $13,000 USD).
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that they are in touch with local authorities in the Philippines concerning this incident.
