Months after an alleged drunken driver crashed into a deputy, he is still recovering.
Forsyth County Deputy Rod Reeves has a surgery scheduled Friday, he told Channel 2 Action News.
He was hospitalized Nov. 18 after the 27-year-old driver of a Ford Explorer, Aaron Riley Russell, struck his marked patrol car on Ga. 400 near Majors Road, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
Credit: Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Forsyth County Sheriff's Office
Reeves, who despite being a veteran law enforcement officer had only started with the county six months before his accident, hasn’t returned to work since, he told Channel 2.
“I looked at my injuries and I thought the accident couldn’t have been that bad, but then I seen the actual photos of my patrol car and I am shocked I am still alive,” Reeves said.
He remembers seeing a red flash on the car’s radar, indicating something was approaching. But after that, Reeves only remembers being in the ambulance and later the hospital, he told the news station.
He fractured four ribs and broke a hip. Metal rods now hold the husband and father together.
It was his 2-year-old’s response that hit him the hardest, Reeves said.
The boy whose bumps and bruises fade with a kiss from dad, couldn’t return the favor.
“We are always kissing his boo boos, making it better,” Reeves said. “It was hard for me to see the frustration on his face because he keeps trying to kiss my boo boos, but he doesn’t understand why daddy isn’t getting any better.”
Reeves isn’t giving up on his long road to recovery and, while he isn’t happy the incident happened, he believes it was part of the job to be there instead of another community member or family on the road.
Russell was driving on a suspended and revoked Georgia driver’s license; he is considered a habitual violator.
He faces DUI and serious injury by vehicle charges.
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