Mateito or John, attacked for his role in Pandillas, Guerra y Paz
That was how he March 26, 2000 tragedy struck for John Alexander Ortiz. The young man in the middle of a neighborhood fight, in a sector of western Bogotá, was attacked by a young man of approximately 15 years of age who shot him twice.
“In my role I played a gang member and maybe this young man got so much into the movie and what I played that he thought that was my life. She turned around and told me the actors die too and she shot me, ”she recounted.
That was how John Alexander, the remembered Mateitohe lost the movement of his legs and could not walk again.
“The doctor even told me that if I had a girlfriend I had to talk to her because I would never be able to have children (…) she cried every time she saw me in a wheelchair”, he counted.
Many times, John came to think that he was a hindrance to his family, however, that was the starting point to start doing everything to get ahead.
“Every day since I got home after this, I’ve set a goal for myself.. I started putting on my socks, shoes or taking a shower,” she said.
John Alexander Ortiz, the remembered Mateito from Pandillas Guerra y Paz, is now a Christian pastor and enjoys every moment of life.
