News

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Police Officer leaves hospital on crutches following amputation

by wendy

A police officer whose left leg had to be amputated after he was struck by a car while on duty in Brooklyn two weeks ago left the hospital on Monday afternoon, saying more with a gesture than he did with words.

Instead of being pushed out of Kings County Hospital Center in a wheelchair, Officer Eric Grimes made his way to a waiting van on crutches, as tears rolled down his face. Dozens of fellow officers shouted words of encouragement and showered him with applause.

Police Officer Eric Grimes leaves hospital on crutches after refusing a wheelchair

Officer Grimes’s friends said later that he had absolutely refused to use a wheelchair, even while waiting for an elevator in the hospital. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, speaking outside the hospital, said Officer Grimes had told him that he was eager to get back to work as soon as possible. He is to be fitted with a prosthetic limb.

“He’s an inspiration,” Mr. Kelly said. “With him, the sky is the limit. He can do anything he puts his mind to.”

Officer Grimes, 27, was leading a drug suspect into a police van near Avenue U and East 34th Street in Marine Park on July 14 when two passing cars were involved in a minor collision. One caromed into Officer Grimes, crushing his lower left leg and foot. One of the drivers in the collision was issued a summons for failing to yield, the police said.

“I feel very proud,” said Officer Jeremy Rodriguez, a close friend of Officer Grimes’s, who works with him in the Brooklyn South Narcotics Division.

Officer Rodriguez said that it would be understandable if most people viewed the amputation as a tragedy, but for Officer Grimes, he said, “it’s one of the strongest times in his life.”

Officer Grimes wore a pink polo shirt and was surrounded by his mother and other relatives as he left the hospital. He has been on the force for five years and is on track to become a detective, a police spokesman said.

He had been speaking almost daily with another officer, Rachid Elkadi, who lost a leg in May 2006. Officer Elkadi, 31, a plainclothes officer in Queens, chose to have his lower right leg amputated after a motorcycle accident left him severely injured. He now uses a prosthetic limb.

“There’s nothing I can’t do,” Officer Elkadi said in an interview. “I run, I drive, I climb fences.”

Officer Grimes made a point of saying he did not want to be coddled upon his return to work, Officer Elkadi said.

“His goal is to walk across the stage when he gets promoted,” Officer Elkadi said. “I told him he’ll do it.”

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