"I was shot and almost killed in the line of duty,” Bradford said.
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)-- August 5, 2023, which is almost a year now, is a day police officer Hali Bradford will remember for the rest of her life.
"I was shot and almost killed in the line of duty,” Bradford said.
Speaking for the first time since the shooting, officer Bradford recalled the damage left on her body after being hit with a single round of a semi-automatic rifle.
"It damaged my intestines and my colon. My left kidney is severely damaged. My sciatic nerve has caused my foot to be paralyzed. As of right now, it's not permanent. There's still hope, but there is potential for it to be permanently paralyzed at this point and it fractured my left hip,” Bradford described.
Bradford said since then she had four surgeries and thought all hope was lost due to seeing no progress in ten months. However, things were beginning to look up when she found Dr. Kyle Daigle, who treats the brain, spine and nerves in Lake Charles.
"The first week of June I started my first-week intensive treatment where I was there every single day of the week and in that first week, I was able to gain muscle contraction in my foot that I had not felt for ten months now,” she said. "I currently go to approximately two to three days a week to Lake Charles to receive that treatment and the hope is that over the next year, I'm able to regain some movement and muscle contraction in my foot. Hope that some of the nerves that are damaged continue to grow back.”
While the treatment is experimental and not 100% guaranteed, Bradford hopes to continue the treatment.
"Over the course of the next year, the approximate cost is $140,000 and so obviously, as a police officer, we don't make a very high salary to be able to afford something like that,” Bradford said.
With many people supporting and giving donations, only time will tell if Bradford will once again be back serving in her uniform doing what she loves.
“My purpose in life and my fulfillment has always been to be a police officer. I have loved serving my community since I was a child. I knew what I was always going to do. I joined the military, went to college, and then came to Lafayette Police Department, where I've worked nights in precinct four ever since,” Bradford said. “My ultimate goal was to be able to return to being with my squad and serving the great city of Lafayette.”
You can send donations for the family to reach their goal of $50,000 here.
