SAN DIEGO -- It was a brazen shooting on the highway, as two friends were headed to the beach.

For the first time, the victim is sharing his harrowing and painful story.

10News Reporter, Michael Chen, spoke with him.

It was a week ago that Daniel Deluca, 21, was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the face.

He's out of the hospital now but the cause of his pain has yet to be taken out.

“It's like a numbing burning sensation, all along my face right here,” said Deluca, who said the pain is ever-present.

So, too, is a lingering reminder.

“Every time I clear my nose, I feel something moving,” he told 10News.

That something is a bullet, a near-deadly souvenir of a case of road rage.

“It makes me angry,” Deluca said.

“It's outrageous,” said Deluca's friend, Bud Shelton. He said he was cruising in his truck, driving at the speed limit on Interstate-8 near Morena, when a car tried to cut him off.

“It was a bang, a shatter of glass in an instant,” Shelton recalled.

A bullet smashed the rear passenger window and hit Deluca.

“All of a sudden, my head went woom woom, like constant, bleeding a lot, pretty numb” Deluca said.

A week later, the numbness has given way to agony.

“It's pretty intense. I woke up hurting like crazy,” Deluca recalled.

Doctors say the swelling must come down before they will determine if the bullet can be safely removed.

The uncertainty isn't the only thing causing Deluca anxiety.

He is unemployed and has no insurance.

“It’s stressful just thinking about it,” he said. “It feels like I have to pay a bill for the rest of my life.”

A reality made more painful, he said, knowing the shooter remains free.

Deluca said “I could see this happening to anybody. I would like to see the guy get caught.”

A fund has been established for Daniel Deluca at U.S. Bank, 610 West Washington, San Diego, CA 92103 Acct: # 153461678994