Man shot at Seattle protest shares his story: 'I give all credit to God'

SEATTLE -- A 27-year-old Bothell man has an inspirational story and a new outlook on life after being shot at Sunday's protest in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Dan Gregory says he's able to share his story today through the grace of God.

"I tell people if you're going to go, don't go thinking you're going to a club," Gregory said.  "It's dangerous to protest."

Gregory says he knew of the potential danger when he joined Sunday's protest, but he never expected this to happen.

As a driver careened toward the crowd, most people ran for cover. In that split-second, Gregory says he responded to the call of a higher power.

"I give all credit to God," he said.

"Somebody in that protest had to be protected ... somebody was special enough that God said 'Dan you got to be his angel.'"

As he struggled to subdue the driver things quickly went from frightening to nearly deadly.

"I saw him move a certain way, I am hitting him and he moved and he comes back with the gun."

A moment later Gregory fell back -- shot in the upper arm.

Both Gregory and his mother, Della, know this story could have ended much differently.

"Because of the grace of God, he was hit here and not here," she said, pointing to her son's chest.

The bullet narrowly missed a major artery. Gregory has a long road of recovery ahead of him to regain full use of his arm. But on this day, his thoughts are only of the lives he saved.

"Out of all those people out there I was the only one that got hurt," he said.

Gregory says he won't stop fighting for change and is encouraging everyone to get out and vote.

The driver accused of shooting him, Nikolas Fernandez, surrendered to police and is charged with first-degree assault. Fernandez has since bailed out of jail.