Man Nearly Loses Vision After Being Shot With BB Gun

By Todd Quinones

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was during a drive home when David Rochelle's eyesight out of his left eye was all but destroyed.

"When I look straight on there is nothing there. Just dots," Rochelle said as he was covering his right eye.

The 52-year-old father of two was driving with his son on Trumbauersville Road outside Quakertown with his window down. As an oncoming vehicle passed by, Rochelle felt something hit his face.

"Everything went black immediately, like black dots. I covered over it with my hand. [I] felt moisture on my hand, realized it was definitely blood," he said.

Rochelle says his doctors believe he was shot with a BB gun.

"It traveled up into the optic nerve where it still remains right now," Rochelle said.

Rochelle says doctors plan to leave the pellet in his eye.

Dr. Brad Feldman is a cornea specialist at Wills Eye in Philadelphia where Rochelle is being treated.

"When it's close to vital tissues like the nerve that connects the eye to the brain, like the optic nerve, going in and taking it out can cause more damage than leaving it there," Feldman said.

Rochelle's vision may never dramatically improve. He now has trouble driving, walking down steps and determining distance.

He wants the person who shot him just after eight o'clock at night on July 21st caught.

"The worst part is right now I have terrible pain going up over about half the forehead going up over the eye," he said.

Two teenagers were recently arrested in Quakertown in connection to a shooting with a BB gun. However, State Police believe that case is not related.