A doctor has spoken of the amazing circumstances that led a man to survive being shot in the neck, chest and thigh at close range.

In evidence to the trial of the man accused of shooting Nathan Darrell, Terence Elliott said of the victim: “Both his chest and neck injuries could have been nearly instantly fatal if the bullet trajectory had been just a few degrees different.”

Ireland Rangers football player Mr Darrell was sitting in a car outside his home on Kitchener Close, Sandys, early on February 13 when a gunman approached the window and opened fire.

According to Mr Darrell, he saw the face of the gunman, and it was 32-year-old Quincy Brangman.

Mr Brangman, of Cook's Hill Road, Sandys, is on trial at Supreme Court accused of attempted murder and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence, but denies being the shooter.

Mr Darrell was rushed to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after the attack, and underwent surgery.

The jury heard a statement yesterday made by Dr Elliott to Police after he treated Mr Darrell.

The doctor said: “The bullet had split open the skin and fat of his neck and passed in and out of the left side of his neck, amazingly not causing injury to the major vessels (carotid artery and jugular vein) and into the top of his shoulder.”

Another bullet hit him in the chest, fracturing a rib, tearing a hole in his diaphragm and damaging his lung and liver.

A third passed between Mr Darrell's buttocks and went into his left thigh.

According to the doctor, he recovered well from his injuries and should suffer no lasting effects apart from scarring.

Mr Darrell told the trial earlier this week that he has various theories as to why he may have been targeted. He believes it may have been because he did not show “respect” to Mr Brangman.

Or, he said, it might have been because he made a threat to kill a man who runs a Sandys gas station or because there was a rumour on the streets that he'd carried out an earlier shooting in Sandys.

“I'm not going to say I don't step on people's toes because I do, but I defend what's right,” he told the jury on Monday.

He admitted on Tuesday that he was carrying a gun himself around the time of the shooting, although not on the night it happened.

Yesterday, the jury heard from Mr Darrell's aunt, Linda-Mae Wilson. He was staying at her home on Kitchener Close at the time of the attack.

In statement to the Police after the shooting, Ms Wilson said: “I don't know of anyone who would want to hurt him or why they would want to hurt him.”

Ms Wilson heard two “pop” sounds outside the house around 2am. Then her nephew came through the kitchen door.

“He took his jacket off, I saw a hole in his neck and blood was all over his chest and stomach area,” she told Police.

“I started screaming and saying 'we need to get Nate to the hospital'.”

The case continues.