SOMERVILLE, Mass. --
A Somerville police officer, shot in the line of duty, is now trying to move forward.
Mario Oliveira was shot in November while serving an arrest warrant on Gibbens Street in Somerville. He spoke out Tuesday and said he's grateful for a second chance at life.
"I did not know exactly how many times I had been hit, but I did know I was hit a few times, and I could hear the gunshots. It was frightening," Oliveira said.
Oliveira was shot five times by a suspected gun dealer on Nov. 9.
"One went in right rib cage, the other into my chest. Another one went in my right pectoral and came within an inch of my heart on the left side. I knew I was in rough shape," Oliveira said.
"I could feel blood oozing out of me from different points of my body. I was actually waiting to see the light or take my last breath. When that didn't happen I got mad and tried to tell myself to control the breathing to try to minimize the blood flow."
Oliveira said he plans to return to his job with the gun unit, but his brush with death has changed his view on many things.
"I appreciate my family a lot more. Quite often law enforcement officers, police officers, we get caught up in our busy schedules. I know I did. You work details, you work cases. I worked nights. I worked days, and you take for granted what is at home," he said. "The job is the job. It will always be there, but family comes first."
"I always give that extra hug when I say good bye because I almost didn't have the chance to see them again," he said.
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