A 20-year-old Florida man is alive after a bullet struck his gold cross necklace at point-blank range.
Aidan Perry was wearing the pendant when his friend, showing him a new .40-caliber pistol, accidentally shot Perry from eight to 10 feet away, WESH-TV in Orlando, Florida, reported on June 27.
“I looked down I see tons of blood,” Perry told WRBW-TV in Orlando. “I thought I was going to die, honestly.”
The projectile struck the cross, splitting it in half as the bullet deflected sideways into his chest, out of his left armpit, and into his arm, where it broke his humerus.
Perry’s friend rushed him to the HCA Florida Ocala Hospital.
“When we normally see these injuries, they’re usually devastating injuries,” the doctor involved with the case told WRBW-TV.
Man Saved After A Stray Bullet Was Deflected By His Gold Cross Necklace 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/5Cm6uLssiV
— Raphousetv (RHTV) (@raphousetv2) August 16, 2025
Dr. Dana Taylor, a surgeon at the hospital, told Fox News that if Perry wasn’t wearing the cross, it would have been a very “different outcome.”
Do you wear a cross necklace?
“When I looked down at his chest and was evaluating him, and I saw the cross and the way that bullet scored it, and it deflected [the bullet] across his chest and into his arm, I knew then that, yes, that cross did definitely change the course of his life.”
Perry, though religious before, said the incident has strengthened his faith.
“It’s just kind of a reminder now — to never stop believing… keep believing and God’s definitely real,” Perry told WRBW-TV.
I DO BELIEVE IN MIRACLES: 20-year-old Aidan Perry is Crediting And Strengthening His Christian Faith Following Being Accidentally Shot In The Chest By A .40-caliber Pistol In June And Surviving Due To His Beloved Cross Pendant pic.twitter.com/S5s5HTR85U
— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) August 19, 2025
The man who allegedly shot Perry was later arrested and charged with culpable negligence causing injury, according to WESH-TV.
Perry considered whether or not he should mend the cross pendant, which he had worn since Christmas, or get another, Fox News reported.
In the meantime, he’s praising God.
“I think God played a big role in this,” Aidan Perry said. “I think he’s the reason that I’m still here today.”
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