Aneas Price was in the wrong place at the wrong time in 2018 when he was shot twice, once in the head and once in the arm.

The person who shot Price in the arm was sentenced to six years; the one who shot him in the head got 17 years. Price is serving a life sentence of blindness.

In August 2018, Price was caught in the crossfire of teenage gang retaliation in the Sandia Vista Apartment parking lot.

“A female and a male, they ran up on me and they were like,’ Give me everything.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, I work too hard,'” Price said. “So unfortunately, he shot me in my arm, and then the female started shooting, and then three other individuals got out of the car and started shooting as well, and then whenever they started shooting, I guess I got hit in my head.”

Price was in a coma for a month and a half and when he came out of that, he had to relearn how to walk and talk. He also had to learn how to do everything with his optic nerve severed. He was in the hospital for nearly four months.

“It was horrible. Just waking up from the coma, like, I didn’t even know what happened,” Price said. ” You know, from the beginning, I didn’t even know what happened. I had to regroup; I didn’t even know who my parents were. It was a struggle.

On May 23, Price achieved his top goal after the shooting when he graduated from Rio Rancho High School. 

“As soon as I got out of the hospital, I wanted to go to school,” Price said. “This is a big accomplishment. It was one of the biggest accomplishments in my life because it showed me that  there’s a purpose for me to be here. I did not stop fighting.”

Price was a student at Manzano High School when he was shot then transferred to the Albuquerque School for the Blind before heading to RRHS.

“They really helped me in a lot of ways. My teachers were really, really amazing,” Price said. “They established a different way to teach me and teach the other students, too. So yeah, they were amazing. I really appreciate all of the staff that really was there for me.”

Price said the most difficult part of his rehabilitation was learning to speak again.

“The talking, that was a struggle. Sometimes I wanted to give up,” Price said. “I mean, you can’t express how you actually feel because you don’t have the words to even speak. That was the  hardest part in my rehabilitation.”

Price was a standout athlete before the shooting, playing both football and basketball. That night in 2018 took that away from him.

“I still think about every day, you know. I want to play,” Price said. “I want to play football. I want to play basketball. It just makes me go harder.”

Price is taking classes at CNM this summer and working at the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber. He wants to go to Arizona State University to study aerospace engineering and music. 

Throughout it all, Price has kept a positive attitude as he works to live a full life and take advantage of a rare second chance.

“I just follow God because God is the one who got me through it,” Price said. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now if not for God giving me a second chance. I know I have a purpose; I don’t know what it is, but I’m seeking it.”