By Bill Lindelof
The Sacramento Bee
PLACER COUNTY, Calif. — A Placer County sheriff’s deputy is doing better since his surgery to lessen brain swelling after suffering traumatic brain injury during a training exercise.
Deputy Austin Harper was on duty helping with police dog training July 27 when his head struck a steel support beam in a vacant commercial building.
He was knocked unconscious, then taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery to reduce brain swelling. Harper, who was placed in a medically induced coma, was initially listed in critical condition.
According to a post on the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, he is recovering from the injury. Harper was taken Wednesday to a neurological rehabilitation center.
Harper has “continued to make monumental strides in the right direction,” according to the post.
Harper has been with the Sheriff’s Office since December. He previously was a police officer in Truckee.
Harper is a veteran of the Marine Corps. Harper’s wife, also a police officer, is expecting the couple’s first child in the fall.