Doing His 'Duty'
Jaimire Dutrieuille awoke from a five-day coma and peered around his Pittsburgh hospital room.
The North Braddock native and former standout wide receiver at Slippery Rock University didn't know where he was or what had happened to him.
Family members told him the story of how he was sitting on his sister's front porch in North Braddock on the evening of May 28 when shots rang out.
Of how he instinctively jumped in front of his 9-year-old niece, shielding her from the raining bullets.
Of how he was wounded four times, including once in the back of the head.
Of how he was a hero.
“Honestly, I don't remember anything,” Dutrieuille, 25, said from his hospital bed Thursday evening. “It sounds like something I would do.”
Slippery Rock University head football coach Shawn Lutz also said that kind of selflessness was completely within character for Dutrieuille.
“It doesn't surprise me one bit,” Lutz said. “He was loved by everybody. He was relentless.”
At The Rock, his nickname was “Duty.” It's an even more fitting monicker now after he was willing to sacrifice himself to save a child.
It was given to him by former SRU head football coach George Mihalik because Dutrieuille was willing to do anything to help the team win.
And because his last name wasn't easy to pronounce, Mihalik said jokingly.
Dutrieuille (pronounced Due-Trell) returned kicks and punts, covered kicks on special teams and was also a dangerous receiving threat despite his 5-foot-8, 175-pound frame.
When the Woodland Hills graduate and walk-on at The Rock graduated in 2016, he was fifth all-time in receiving yards (2,177), third in receptions (172) and receiving touchdowns (20), and fifth in punt return yards (421) and kick return yards (1,144).
His former teammates said Dutrieuille always played with an edge.
“He's one of the smallest guys, but he has the biggest heart,” said friend and former SRU running back Brett Crenshaw.
The two came to The Rock together in 2012 and spent a summer in Slippery Rock training for their upcoming freshman seasons.Dutrieuille and Crenshaw become fast friends.“We grew up with similar backgrounds,” Crenshaw said. “I saw him every day and we built a bond that still carries to now.”Mihalik, who coached The Rock for 28 years until his retirement after the 2015 season, visited Dutrieuille in the hospital Thursday night. They talked about the big plays “Duty” made as a matter of routine during his career and the run the team made to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals in their last season together.“We both got emotional,” Mihalik said. “It's hard to see one of your guys like that.”Mihalik told Dutrieuille that there was something bigger ahead for him and his niece.“Two lives were saved,” Mihalik said. “I told him there's a purpose, a reason your life was spared and the life of the little girl was saved. I told him big things are ahead for both of you.”Slippery Rock High graduate and former SRU defensive lineman Tony Papley doesn't doubt that.Papley was two years older than Dutrieuille, but said the young receiver gravitated to the upperclassmen.“He lit up the room when he entered it,” Papley said. “He always has a big smile on his face, and he has a big personality.”Papley and Dutrieuille formed a bond because both were walk-ons.“I just know with myself being a walk-on what he was going through,” said Papley, who is currently an assistant football coach at Duquesne University. “I told him to keep fighting. He was always a great kid and a tremendous competitor.”That competitive spirit will come in handy now during his long road to recovery.In addition to his head wound, bullets were also lodged in his buttocks and leg. A bullet also shattered his elbow as it ricocheted.A bullet is still lodged in his head, dangerously close to his optic nerve. Dutrieuille's vision is blurred, but has improved as the swelling has subsided.It is not known when or if the bullet can be removed.Dutrieuille said he realizes his road back to health is going to be an arduous one.But the outpouring of support from family, friends, former teammates and even strangers has helped him through the early days of his recovery.“That's the upmost respect anyone can have for you,” Dutrieuille said. “When someone who doesn't know you says something kind about you, about the type of person you are, it means so much.”
