By Police1 Staff
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — An officer who was shot in the head while on patrol in December is beating the odds and making “incredible strides,” according to doctors.
Officer Mike McClaughry remains blind, but despite the odds, he’s up and walking and doing hours of physical therapy a day, King 5 reported.
Doctors attribute McClaughry’s remarkable recovery partially due to his positive attitude.
“Oh, it’s a huge factor,” physical therapist Mike Anderson said. “From the beginning, Mike has had a sense of humor. He has had a level of determination that is going to take him far in his rehabilitation.”
Doctors told the news station he could be released from the hospital later this month -- just in time for his 39th wedding anniversary.
McClaughry’s daughter April, who has quit her job to help her parents full time, has set up a GoFundMe to help her parents out with financial needs.
McClaughry, 60, was investigating a reported shooting when Ernesto Lee Rivas shot him in the head.
Rivas, an alleged gang member, reportedly shot a rival gang member earlier in the day. After a standoff with police, Rivas was taken into custody and is held on $1 million bail, according to the Associated Press.
Two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, who were in the house during the standoff, were arrested and charged as well.
No other officers were injured in the standoff.