EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) - In September of 2022, an Edmond police officer was violently run over on the job by a suspect who was fleeing from police in a high-speed chase.
Since then, Sgt. Joseph Wells has defied odds and has made unbelievable strides in his recovery. He survived, but he says his quality of life may not.
"Right now, I spend the majority of my day in this chair thinking about what happened,” Wells said. "Nothing keeps my mind off of it. Just sitting inside looking out at the yard and thinking about what I'd rather be doing. It's been really hard."
You cannot put a price on life. Sgt. Wells’ survival has been nothing short of miraculous after more than a week on maximum life support and more than 20 surgeries that literally put him back together piece by piece.
Now, nearly two years later the 23-year police and marine veteran finds himself yet again fighting for life – this time his quality of life.
"There is constant pain shooting down my leg nonstop all day long,” Wells said. "It's one of the reasons I don't get out of my chair."
He cannot walk and cannot move his left leg.
"I shouldn't have to sit here and wonder if workers’ comp is going to do the right thing and pay for the surgery I need to get my quality of life back,” Sgt. Wells said.
That surgery is an amputation and what doctors say is the only way to alleviate his pain and restore his mobility.
"The most function can be restored with an amputation and doing a reconstructive procedure via amputation, and I think that's where he is at this point,” OU Health Orthopedic Surgeon Brandon Hull, M.D. said. "With as many surgeries as he's had, the likelihood of that limb being a functional limb that functioned the way that it did before this all happened, that would be very unlikely."
But there is a problem.
"The prosthetics are expensive, and the insurance company is required to take care of that the rest of my life,” Sgt. Wells said. "I don't think anyone should have to go through this workers’ comp fight that I'm going through now."
It is a fight Wells believes boils down to money.
"It just seems like they are more concerned about the money with it,” he said. "They want me to go with one of their second opinions, find someone different who is going to maybe agree with them that it should be repaired so they can save money."
That repair is one of a few options – either again try to mend his tendon that doctors say looks like a "wet mop", replace it with a cadaver tendon, or place a metal rod from his hip to his foot, meaning Wells will never be able to bend his leg. None of those options will alleviate the pain or get him out of his chair.
"Edmond 911. What's the location of your emergency?"
"Academy here at Edmond on Broadway?"
"Sgt. Wells."
"We've got a guy here. He had surgery about five weeks ago and his knee just split open."
"He's bleeding pretty bad."
"My first day actually out of the house by myself,” Wells said. “I fell to the ground, and that's when I could feel my leg and the stitches just split back open. I could see the white of my knee before all the blood started flowing in. I just laid there in the Academy parking lot until somebody finally came outside and called 911 for me. I don't want that happening again. I don't want to be somewhere stuck."
Or be stuck footing the bill to rightfully restore what was taken from him.
"It’s kind of like you survive, but we don't want to pay all the money it’s going to take to get you back to where you were before and just you should be lucky you survived,” he said. "Every first responder, EMSA, firefighters, they all should think about that for their future, because what if this happens to them? It can happen to anybody, and if they get hurt, they're going to have the same fight I'm going through now."
News 4 reached out to the insurance company, Safety National, and they tell us “In accordance with privacy laws, and in order to respect the privacy of our claimants and clients, we are not able to comment on situations related to the status of our workers’ compensation claims.”
Meanwhile, they city of Edmond says it will do everything legally possible to make sure Sgt. Wells gets the care he deserves.
