YORK, Maine — Two years after he was shot in his own home and left paralyzed, a York man is sharing his story.
Richard Potorski said there are still misconceptions about what happened, and now, he’s ready to set the record straight.
“It’s tough, but I manage,” he said.
Potorski is paralyzed from his chest to his toes.
“Some days, no matter how hard you try, you can’t be strong,” he said.
He remembers every detail about the day his life turned upside down. It was Jan. 8, 2013, and he took his lunch break in Lebanon, Maine, at the house he shared with his wife and daughter.
“Within thirty seconds of walking in the house, I noticed everything was in shambles,” said Potorski.
Then, he heard a footstep.
“And when I looked, I just saw a .45 pointing at me and he shot me,” he said.
The bullet went into his shoulder and through his lung, breaking his back and severing his spinal cord.
“I said, ‘You shot me, you killed me,’” said Potorski. “And he said, ‘Cry me a river.’”
Unable to move, Potorski said he played dead until his wife found him an hour and a half later.
When he woke up at Maine Medical Center, police had a lot of questions.
“I didn’t know [the suspect] at all,” said Potorski.
Investigators initially said they were looking into a possible drug connection.
Potorski said that made some people assume he was involved, but despite the misdemeanor drug charge on his record, he said that wasn’t the case.
“I think it’s hurt me as a person in others people’s eyes, because they think something different than what actually happened,” he said.
Last year, Ronald Bauer was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the home invasion. Police said he didn’t know Potorski, but broke in to feed his drug habit.
“It definitely helps,” said Potorski. “It doesn’t take the sting away, but it definitely helps to know he’s in jail and can’t do this to anybody else.”
It’s taken more than just a physical and emotional toll.
“I’m struggling financially to take care of past things and current things right now, current bills,” said Potorski.
Potorski gets rides to doctors appointments through the state, but has no way to get around the rest of the time. He’s trying to raise money to buy a handicap accessible van so he can do his own grocery shopping and even watch his daughter play soccer.
“Oh, that would be amazing,” he said.
It’s a glimmer of hope as he navigates the cruel hand he’s been dealt.
“My daughter, to be honest with you, that’s 100 percent my driving force,” said Potorski.
He learn more about Potorski’s story, or to help, go to his Go Fund Me page.