After over two months of surgery and rehabilitation, injured Covington police officer Matt Cooper spoke to Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday for the first time since he was shot in the head on Labor Day.
“I feel very appreciative of all the donations and prayers and support from my community,” Cooper said softly, with a raspy timbre in his voice.
Cooper, 34, remains at the Shepherd Center in Buckhead in the center's Brian Injury Rehabilitation Program after he was shot chasing an apparent shoplifter from a Walmart on Industrial Boulevard on Sept. 3, AJC.com previously reported.
He was shot between his eyes, and the .38 bullet traveled down to his carotid artery, clotting his blood and saving his life. His wife, Kristen, told Channel 2 the bullet will stay with him for the rest of his life and will not be removed.
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She said she honestly didn't know if her husband would survive for the first few days, but she said he's a fighter and persevered through the initial surgeries.
“Once we got past that, then you kind of wonder about what his quality of life will be,” she said. “Matt, being a very physical person — I wanted him to have a good life still.”
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Matt Cooper, a father of two and former Army Airborne Veteran who had served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, told the news station “our community, God, my wife, our kids and music” have helped give him strength through his long recovery so far.
Throughout his therapy, he been wearing a helmet featuring many stickers. Chief among them is a black and blue banner with “148” in the center, which was his badge number.
The number became a symbol of support for the Coopers by the law enforcement community and residents in Covington, including it’s prominent use during the department’s Sept. 8 “Fuzz Run” in his honor.
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The family also set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the numerous medical bills. As of Wednesday evening, it has raised over $35,700 of its $40,000 fundraising goal.
“It’s so beyond us. It’s God,” Kristen Cooper told Channel 2. “He’s definitely laid it upon people’s hearts to help us. There are no words to say how thankful we are.”
His road to recovery isn't over yet, but he's progressing faster than expected. He was seen being able to walk with the assistance of Shepherd Center Physical Therapist Amanda Hecht.
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“Matt is an incredibly hard worker,” Hecht said. “I think from the beginning of time here, no matter what obstacles he had in his way, he wanted to work.”
Doctors aren’t sure when he’ll be cleared to leave the hospital and head back home, but he’s continuing to put one foot in front of the other until that becomes a reality.
“This has been a horrible tragedy in our life, but tragedies usually don’t have happy endings, and we’re probably going to have a happy ending,” Kristen Cooper said. “We still get to go home at some point and have a life. And our kids get to have their dad back.”
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