DENVER — Officer John Adsit, who was run over by a driver while escorting a group of East High School students during a walkout, continues to face a long road to recovery, but has made progress, including some walking, his family said Thursday.
“It is just over a month since the accident and the fact that John survived is a miracle,” the family said in a statement released by Denver Police.
Adsit was one of four Denver police officers who were hit by a car while escorting students from East High School who walked out of class in December. All four officers were on bicycles. Police have said the driver of the car had a medical condition that caused him to lose control.
He remained in critical condition for four weeks and has undergone 11 surgeries, his family said.
The ordeals Adsit has had to overcome in the hospital included surgery to “repair fractured/crushed ribs with metal plating, a punctured lung, a severed artery in one leg and a broken femur with metal rod in the other, a cracked pelvis, multiple breaks in his arm, hand and shoulders which have been plated, pinned and skin graft, removal of his spleen, internal bleeding, pneumonia, vision loss, fever and infection,” the family said.
Last week Adsit was moved to another hospital for “intense healing.” He is breathing on his own and, for the first time, stood on Friday, the family said.
On Tuesday, he planned to take a firs step, “but instead with his amazing determination, John took ten steps with assistance,” the statement said.
The family thanked the community for their support of Adsit in his recovery.