Lady Gaga’s shot dog walker was suicidal and ‘abandoned’ by friends.
Lady Gaga’s dog walker said he “considered suicide” after being shot protecting the superstar’s pooches – and is only now forgiving “friends who weren’t there and don’t know how to be there” for him.
“I was beaten, strangled, shot and left to die while bleeding to death on a sidewalk and snapping for my life,” Ryan Fischer, 41, said in a moving victim impact statement as his shooter turned 21 on Monday was sentenced to prison.
“They shot me and left me to die and both of our lives were changed forever,” he told shooter James Howard Jackson in a statement, which he also shared on social media.
Fischer recalled the physical injuries from the “life-changing, earth-shattering” February 24, 2021 attack outside the “Shallow” star’s Hollywood home, including “collapsed lung after collapsed lung” and “partial removal.”
But his “darkest hours,” he said, come “when I feel lost and abandoned and grieving for a life and these dogs that I sacrificed myself for.”
That included the “career loss” of caring for Gaga’s French bulldogs – two of whom were snapped but later returned – as well as all of his life savings and important “friendships,” he said, without naming anyone.
Fischer described some of the physical injuries, including “collapsed lung after collapsed lung” and “partial removal.”
The emotional pain was increased by the “life-changing, earth-shattering”, he said in court.
It made him “travel aimlessly across the country for over a year as I delved into debt, contemplating suicide and struggling with my identity and how to overcome such a life-altering, earth-shattering event,” he said.
Fischer told the court he now has “a deeper love for friends and family who have shown up” – and forgives “friends who didn’t know and don’t know how to be there for me in the lengthy recovery process”.
“I was beaten, strangled, shot and left for dead, bleeding on a sidewalk and gasping for air,” said Ryan Fischer, 41, in a moving victim impact statement, which he also shared online.
In it, he movingly admitted that he had “considered suicide” after “losing a career, friendships, confidence and savings.”
His “darkest hours,” he said, come “when I feel lost and abandoned and grieving for a life and these dogs that I sacrificed myself for.”
Fischer told the court he now has “a deeper love for friends and family who have shown up” – and forgives “friends who didn’t know and don’t know how to be there for me in the lengthy recovery process”.
Fischer also told his shooter that he is still working on having “forgiveness” for him too.
Thanking his shooter “for not killing — not hurting” the dogs, he said, “I don’t think I could have lived with myself if they had died.”
It was not clear which camp Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, got into. The singer was not named in the victim’s impact statement, although it affectionately referred to her dogs Asia, Koji and Gustav.
Abandoned by friends, he instead found “strangers-turned-family” to support him.
Fischer also told his shooter that he is still working on having “forgiveness” for him too.
“I also want to say thank you, thank you for not killing – not hurting – the dogs,” he and his dog-snapping accomplices recorded before being brought safely back days later.
“They were taken back and taken back to their mother,” he said, the closest he could come to identifying Gaga, who was in Italy at the time of the attack.
“I don’t think I could have lived with myself if they had died,” he told the Court of Dogs.
He ended his statement by denouncing “how guns have impacted my life and countless others and continue to harm our society.”
“There’s no point in fearing for your life at school, at places of worship, at clubs, or on an evening walk with dogs,” he said.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or having a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside of the five counties, you can call the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
https://nypost.com/2022/12/06/gagas-shot-dog-walker-was-suicidal-abandoned-by-pals/ Lady Gaga’s shot dog walker was suicidal and ‘abandoned’ by friends.
