A young Arizona military veteran shot himself in the face, but miraculously survived. He said he felt “instant regret” over his “split-second decision”.
Joshua Duncan, 26, was fired from his two-year stint in the U.S. Army for a series of violations, including being late and not wearing military uniform. He fell into depression and even considered suicide. He said there wasn’t.
Then, in November 2022, in a “split-second decision,” he grabbed a gun from under Phoenix’s bed and shot himself in the face.
“I turned around and pulled the trigger. It was an instant moment of shock,” he told Kennedy News, calling it “instant regret” for an event he hadn’t planned for.
“One side of my brain was saying to the other, ‘Did you really just do this?'” he said.
“Like, ‘Yeah, you really shot yourself in the face with a shotgun.'”
Amazingly, Mr Duncan managed to crawl across the carpet into the next room and alert his 32-year-old brother Anthony. Believing his brother had been attacked by an intruder, Anthony grabbed his own AR-15 style rifle.
“Half my jaw was gone and I was screaming as hard as I could for him,” Duncan said as she crawled on all fours to help her brother.
“There was a big hole in my face. The wound was around my mouth and throat, so I started suffocating. I was breathing in a pool of blood. I was covered in blood and started drowning. He said it felt like someone was “pouring a hot bucket of water” on his body.
“My brother is the toughest man you’ve ever met. For the first time in my life, I saw anxiety on his face.”
Amazingly, Duncan survived. However, her lacrimal ducts, nasal cavity, oral fossa, upper and lower maxilla, and facial nerves were damaged.
He also said he is deaf in one ear, his memory is affected and he struggles with basic arithmetic and spelling.
He is now sharing his story online in hopes of encouraging others, especially veterans facing hardship, to seek help.
Duncan, a former military communications specialist, said being kicked out of the military was “one of the most devastating things” that had ever happened to him.
He was so embarrassed that he threw all his uniforms in the trash and didn’t tell anyone, including his family, what happened for years.
“I would like to say that this endeavor has given me a better mindset, but it took a long time and a lot of hard work,” he said.
“It was a year where I had to strongly reflect on and accept how my life had turned out.”
Fourteen months after the incident, Mr Duncan is urging others to be wary of those who are susceptible to making similar rash decisions. Even if you survive, you will regret it.
“Check in on your friends. Ask for help if you need it, that’s the hardest part. Have the hard conversations, even if it’s hard.”
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or visit the following link: SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
