The Associated Press
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) - It seems incredible that Terry McMenamin is alive, much less commanding the narcotics division of the Opelika Police Department.
McMenamin was blasted in the head with a 20-gauge shotgun a year ago this month while on duty, a devastating injury that sent him to the brink of death. A slug penetrated the right side of his face, shattering bones, destroying an eye and causing strokes.
Today, the father of three is back to nearly 100 percent and is enjoying his role as a police administrator, even if he still misses patrol work.
“I’ve always been the type of person where if there’s something going on, I want to be there. It’s difficult to not get out there,” he told the Opelika-Auburn News in a story Sunday.
McMenamin, an 18-year veteran of Opelika’s police force, remembers little about the night that changed his life other than he was planning to stop for a cup of coffee with a buddy along the way home.
Early on Sept. 19, 2003, Opelika police answered a call about a domestic disturbance at the home of Raymond O’Neal Robison in the east Alabama city. McMenamin said he showed up to “make sure the guys were OK.”
The man’s wife was escorted from the house, but officers saw Robison inside with a shotgun. Authorities said the man refused to drop the weapon and opened fire, hitting McMenamin and officer Brantley Cargill. Officers returned fire, killing the 45-year-old Robison.
Cargill was treated and released from a hospital, but McMenamin’s condition was much more serious. The strokes only compounded damage caused by the gunshot wound.
“We thought he was going to die,” said his wife, Michael McMenamin.
McMenamin was transferred to the UAB Medical Center in Birmingham, where he woke up after a week. The critical stage had passed, but next came recovery and rehabilitation in Atlanta and Columbus, Ga.
The strokes robbed McMenamin of some abilities that almost everyone takes for granted.
“When he first got (to rehabilitation), he couldn’t count,” Mrs. McMenamin said. “He didn’t know his ABCs. Basic things we take for granted every day. Finding the right word became an issue as well.”
McMenamin said he still has a hard time finding the right words sometimes, but his remaining eye, the left one, has actually gotten stronger after constant use.
Though insurance paid the hospital bills, McMenamin said his injuries uprooted his family as the children were shuttled back and forth between relatives while he was recovering out of town.
Despite the terrible injury, McMenamin remains optimistic and never asked the question, “Why me?”
“Of several different psychologists that I had to see, one lady always wanted me to say how mad I was,” he said. “I’ve never been mad. Anger is not it. Thankful that I am alive, that’s what I am.”