Tyson executive hurt in D.C. baseball shooting back in the game

Matt Mika waves Friday at fans before throwing the rst pitch during Tyson Foods’ annual softball tournament at the Rogers Regional Sports Park in Rogers. Mika, director of government relations for Tyson, was shot twice at the GOP Congressional baseball team practice in Alexandria, Va., in June 2017.
Matt Mika waves Friday at fans before throwing the rst pitch during Tyson Foods’ annual softball tournament at the Rogers Regional Sports Park in Rogers. Mika, director of government relations for Tyson, was shot twice at the GOP Congressional baseball team practice in Alexandria, Va., in June 2017.

ROGERS -- Matt Mika can retrace his steps on a baseball field and remember the moment a bullet pierced his body last June.

The Republican congressional team was at a final practice before the annual Congressional Baseball Game, a bipartisan charity event dating back more than a century. Mika, director of government relations for Tyson Foods in Washington, D.C., was a coach, standing behind first base.

Then the chaos.

Mika was one of five people injured June 14, 2017, when a gunman opened fire at a field in Alexandria, Va. He remembers the heat in his chest when the first bullet hit, missing his heart by less than an inch. He remembers the second bullet entering his left arm.

Miracles kept him alive that day, he said.

Mika threw the first pitch of the Tyson Foods annual softball tournament in Rogers on Friday, marking a victory in his recovery, he said.

"I'm just lucky to be alive by the grace of God," Mika said. "It's really a sign of 'I'm back.' I'm not sitting at home worrying about myself. I'm out here playing."

He spent 10 days in the hospital after the shooting and was operated on seven times.

Derek Burleson, public relations manager for Tyson Foods, has worked with Mika for about five years and knows him as an energetic, hardworking friend. Mika has participated in the Tyson softball tournament for six years, and his colleagues wanted to have him back last year, but knew it was physically impossible.

Having him back to pitch this year represented a full-circle journey, Burleson said.

"He's back doing what he loves with his fellow Tyson teammates, so to me, this is a big moment in his recovery," Burleson said.

As a former college athlete, taking a break from athletic events to recover frustrated him, Mika said. He used to run 10 miles before the shooting, but a walk or jog tired him in the months afterward.

"I have to remind myself I can't do as much as I used to," he said.

Mika returned to work part time in September and started full time in January. He returned to the fields this spring to play softball and baseball and has also played other sports.

"I'm just trying to get back to a new normal. If I can't play sports, I'm not happy. I don't really like to stay still," Mika said.

Mika has connected with a couple of other survivors from mass shootings at Virginia Tech and Las Vegas and appreciates the community supporting him, he said. Mika considers himself a survivor, not a victim or hero, because his heroes are those who protected him and helped him recover.

"Those officers and those people who put me back together -- they're the ones I'm always going to remember," he said.

Mika commends the officers, particularly Capitol Police Special Agent David Bailey and Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, whose intervention prevented more people from being shot. The gunfire lasted about six minutes, but Mika had thought it lasted an hour, he said.

James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., had posted criticism of President Donald Trump's administration and Republicans online before he shot Mika in the chest and arm. Others injured included Bailey, Griner, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and House GOP aide Zack Barth. Hodgkinson died in a shootout with police.

Mika returned to the field in Alexandria about a month after the shooting with fellow coaches. They spent about two hours talking and reliving the incident, he said.

"For me, that was the best therapy because I knew my guys were safe and they knew I was safe," Mika said.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said Mika displayed courage, an inspiring attitude and determination in the midst of tragedy.

"I'm grateful that his recovery has progressed so well and excited that he'll be in Arkansas to be honored by his Tyson family," Boozman said.

Considering Mika's condition a year ago, Doug Ramsey, Tyson Foods' president of poultry, thinks it is impressive how far he's come in recovery.

"He is really an inspiration to us all," Ramsey said.

photo

Matt Mika shows off a jersey signed by the Razorbacks baseball team Friday during Tyson Foods’ annual softball tournament at the Rogers Regional Sports Park in Rogers.

Metro on 08/04/2018

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