Lady Gaga’s dog walker has left hospital after having part of his lung removed as a result of being shot when the singer’s beloved French bulldogs were stolen.
Ryan Fischer was walking three of the pop star’s pets near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when two men jumped out of a car and tried to steal the animals on February 24th.
In the ensuing struggle Fischer was shot once and two of the dogs were taken. They were later returned unharmed after Gaga offered a $500,000 (€425,000) reward.
Now, Fischer has shared an update on social media and revealed he has left hospital after undergoing surgery on a collapsed lung.
He said he felt he was recovering quickly from the gunshot wound and hoped “life would be back to normal soon enough”. However, Fischer was forced to go back under the knife.
He wrote on Instagram: “It became quite clear that my lung was not healing, and the bullet wound had scarred my tissue like a burn.
“It could take months, if ever, for the hole to seal. Lunches of grilled cheese and tomato soup and art walks blurred into one until the day came to remove portions of my lung.”
Fischer said he has accepted his recovery “had become anything but a straight line”.
He added: “Now that I’m finding my way in the outside world where triggers are real and working through trauma is WAY more than dealing with one unfortunate moment in life, I look back at my exit from the hospital and smile that I continue to approach each day the same way.”
Fischer’s shooting was caught on video from a doorbell camera of a nearby home. He screamed “Oh my God! I’ve been shot!” and “I’m bleeding out from my chest!” after being shot with a semi-automatic handgun.
Koji and Gustav, the dogs that were taken, were returned unharmed when a woman showed up at a Los Angeles police station with them.
The third dog, Miss Asia, stayed with Fischer after he had been shot. Gaga (35) was in Italy filming a movie when the incident happened.
She called the dog walker a “hero”. TMZ reported police told Gaga not to pay out the reward until their investigation cleared the woman of involvement.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department told the PA news agency the investigation was ongoing.
