CHEVERLY, Md. When Che Bullock awoke in a hospital in August 2013, the first thing he felt was grateful to be alive. Hed been stabbed 13 times outside a nightclub in the Washington, D.C., area and taken by helicopter to a medical center, where doctors performed lifesaving surgery.

Bullocks sense of relief quickly faded, first into physical pain and anxiety, then into fear and finally into a rage toward his attackers.

It was kind of like they put a hit out on me, said Bullock, now 30. He recalled friends coming to his hospital room to stand guard.

Just days after the stabbing, Bullock had recovered enough to return home to the Washington neighborhood where he said hed had a beef with the individuals whod tried to kill him. Bullock was prepared to defend himself but also ready to hit back.

But before he could act, Bullock got a call from Joseph Richardson Jr., a University of Maryland associate professor, offering him an alternative. Richardson, now 50, invited him to participate in a study on young black men who had been shot or stabbed more than once repeat victims of violence sometimes referred to as frequent flyers. Bullock was hesitant, thinking Richardson might be working with police, but in the end he decided to sign up.

That study ultimately saved his life.

Gun violence is an American crisis that leads to more than 33,000 deaths each year about a third of which are homicides and tens of thousands more nonfatal shootings, according to federal data. Preventing that violence has been a topic of debate for decades, with politicians making glacial progress. But Richardson and others have decided to pursue another route, offering patients a glimpse into a less violent future that isnt hampered by the political stalemate.

In September 2017, Richardson launched the Capital Region Violence Intervention Program out of the Prince Georges Hospital Center in Cheverly, where Bullock was treated. The program, which arose from Richardsons initial study, takes a public health approach, treating violence like a disease that can both be spread and inoculated against, said Richardson, who now serves as co-director.