‘Missed Me’: Reaction Of US President Ronald Reagan, Who Survived Assassination Bid, To Sound Of A Balloon Popping Goes Viral

A video of former US president Ronald Reagan has gone viral on social media where the 40th president of the United States is seen delivering a humorous quip mid-speech following the sound of balloon popping which mimicked the sound of a gunshot at an event in Berlin, then-capital of West Germany.

The video was shot in 1987, almost two years prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Reagan was speaking on Berlin and its past glory and it has now gone viral as Donald Trump, a US presidential contender and a former US president, survived an attempt on his life last Saturday.

All of a sudden, the US President stopped following the burst sound of a balloon popping, that sounded like a gunshot being fired and said: “Missed me!”

His quip was met with laughter and cheers by the Berlin crowd.

The humorous quip was also an example of how strong Reagan’s spirit was and his impeccable sense of (dark) humour.

Attempt On Reagan’s Life In 1981

In March 1981, in a bid to impress female actor Jodie Foster, a gunman John W. Hinckley Jr. opened fire from his .22-caliber revolver at former US President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton hotel.

He got off six shots in 1.7 seconds and just 15 feet from the president.

His first bullet struck White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head, and his second hit DC Police Officer Thomas Delahanty in the back.

At the sound of the shots, Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr grabbed Reagan and shoved him toward the open door of the armoured limousine. Hinckley’s third bullet flew high. The fourth hit Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy in the chest as he stood between the president and the gunman.

The fifth shot hit the armoured window of the limousine. Hinckley’s final bullet ricocheted off the side of the limousine, flattening into the shape of a dime and striking Reagan five inches below his left armpit. Parr dove in behind the president, and the door slammed shut. Parr ordered the limousine to head to the White House.

Parr didn’t know Reagan had been shot. But when the president complained of pain in his chest and Parr noticed frothy blood on his lips, the agent ordered the limousine to head to George Washington University hospital. There, Reagan insisted on walking into the hospital under his own power but collapsed like a dead weight in the hallway.

Doctors and nurses located his wounds. They could not stem Reagan’s bleeding, however, forcing surgeons to operate to staunch it. Reagan lost more than half his blood volume that day before the bleeding was brought under control. Surgeons removed the bullet lodged just an inch from the president’s heart.

’Honey, I Forgot To Duck’

Reagan, who spent 13 days in the hospital before returning to the White House, generated massive sympathy from the American public not only with his ability to act with grace and courage but also because of his sense of humour.

Lying on a gurney in the trauma bay, a chest tube draining blood from his side, Reagan sought to calm down his wife, Nancy, with a quip.

“Honey, I forgot to duck,” he told her, borrowing a line that boxer Jack Dempsey delivered to his own wife after losing the 1926 heavyweight championship.

He joked with advisers as he was being wheeled into the operating room. And just before he was put under for surgery, he cracked to his surgeons: “I hope you are all Republicans.”

Dr. Joseph Giordano, a liberal Democrat, replied: “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans”.

(with inputs from the Associated Press)