PICKING UP THE PIECES: Chilean student vows to stay happy after shooting rampage (UPDATED with VIDEO)

David Bilbao Meza expected to be home in Chile by now after three months of soaking in the American culture around Destin and brushing up on his English as a student worker.

When he goes, he’ll be taking home the scars of what happened two weeks ago in the early morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 26 at Summer Lake townhomes in Miramar Beach.

“It’s too early to feel anything from this,” David said.

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To listen to David's story in his own words, click here.

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Around 1:45 a.m., a quiet gathering in unit 12 was shattered by gun shots that came through the window of the room where David and his friends sat discussing job opportunities in Destin.

It was dark and the friends never saw the face of alleged gunman, Dannie Baker, who lived in one of the neighboring units at the complex.

The attack left Nicolas Pablo Corp-Torres, 23, and Racine Balbontin-Aragondona, 22, dead at the scene and three others injured.
As of press time, Sebastian Mauricio Arizaga-Suarez, 27, and, Fransisco Javier Cofre-Fernande, 25, are still recovering at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

David Alonzo Bilbao-Meza, meanwhile, was well enough to sit down for an interview with The Log on Tuesday.

Log photographer Kathy Harrison assisted with the language barrier, as David spoke in his native Spanish for the interview.

His left arm below the elbow is still wrapped from an operation after four pins had to be installed to hold his bone together, where he was struck by one of the rounds from Baker’s rifle.

With his brother Mario Bilbao-Meza, 26, by his side, David reluctantly reflects on that catastrophic night — a night that the surviving victims have not been able to talk about yet with one another.David recalls hearing a loud pop and thought right away that the sound came from the oven in the kitchen of the townhome before someone yelled for everyone to get down.

Details of the shooting are still a bit fuzzy. David remembers five or six shots, but authorities say it was more.

When asked how the event has impacted his life, he nervously touched a newspaper on the table in front of him, but thoughtfully said that he wants to go home as normal as possible. He wants to leave as much of what happened here as he can and not return home with the injury sustained that night.

“I am very concerned about my family,” David said, adding that he and Mario have kept contact with their family back home via Webcam.

He hopes to spare them the details and start moving on when he goes home.

As a result of what happened that night, David now wakes up from disturbing nightmares, sometimes screaming. He said that the slightest noise makes him jump and the freedom that he once felt to walk around as he pleased is gone.

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To read about the latest from the case, click here.

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David, 21, is a fourth year biomedical engineering student that came to Destin for his first time after a friend from his university back home told him what a great experience working abroad was. Destin’s beautiful weather is what drew the young Chilean here to work two jobs at Stinky’s Fish Camp and Vin’ tij Wine Boutique.

David’s doctor now says that he will be out of work for at least three months with his injury.

Mario was sent to the United States the day of the shooting by the Chilean Consulate Jorge Valdés so he could be with his brother through his medical treatments. Most would expect that after being victimized, David would want to return home immediately, but he is not ready to return to Chile.“I feel pressure from the insurance companies to go back to Chile,” said David, who arrived in Destin originally on Dec. 8 and was set to leave on March 8 to go home.

Since David is on a program for traveling students, he is insured with CareMed International Travel Insurance agency and carries a personal policy with Universal Insurance. Currently, Mario said that the insurance companies are working together to cover his medical expenses.

However, the brothers said that the companies agree that David should return home as soon as he is medically cleared. Insurance will no longer pay after the pins are removed and David will be on his own for any rehabilitation.

That plan does not set well for David, who came to Destin with plans to work and improve his English, not to be sent packing before he is ready because of a crazed gunman’s actions. As the event echoes around their home country, other Chilean workers in Destin have also been haunted by what has happened.

“I had bad dreams that night,” said Nicole Rebolledo, 23, a Chilean dental student employed at Seascapes. “Something was wrong and when I wake up, I still felt this.”

Nicole’s friends back home questioned why she would stay in Destin after the tragedy, but she plans to come back next year. The incident has not sunk her dreams of one day settling permanently in the states.“They are so angry in Chile,” she said. “But I can handle this. It’s the way of my life ... I can do it.”

For his part, David said that Baker’s violent gesture will not change who he is.

“I was a happy person before,” David said. “What happened is not going to change that.”

Fund established to help Chilean students

Former State Sen. Charlie Clary III has set up a fund to help Chilean students affected by last week's shooting in Walton County.