By Carol Robinson
al.com
PELHAM, Ala. — A Pelham police officer seriously injured when she was struck while on duty on Interstate 65 said she is thankful for the outpouring of love, prayers and support since the crash nearly one month ago.
“I’m so blessed and grateful that I’m still alive and that I have the chance to walk again,’’ Officer Elizabeth Minter said in a statement posted on the department’s Facebook page Friday.
Pelham Police Chief Brent Sugg said previously Minter was directing traffic around a crash at mile marker 242 on I-65 southbound shortly after 12:30 a.m. Saturday, July 1.
Police said she was “knocked out of her boots” by a speeding vehicle.
The driver had ignored traffic control vests and emergency lights and was going about 80 mph, police said. The driver was taken into custody shortly after the crash.
Minter was quickly attended to by officers and firefighters and transported to UAB Hospital.
The officer, the sole provider of three children, is now out of the hospital and working with home health and therapy. She said she still has more surgeries ahead, and about nine more weeks until she can try to walk.
A GoFundMe established in the days after the crash has raised about $60,000.
“It’s been a slow and painful process, but I believe all my experiences in life have taught me that with God I can push through it to the other side,’’ Minter said.
“Right now, I’m in a wheelchair. I have an external fixator device on my entire left leg, rods through my pelvis and hips going all the way across, a brace on my broken right leg, and a bandage on my healing broken ankle,’’ she said. “My recent x-rays have shown that things are healing on track.”
“My kids have been incredibly brave throughout this process and seeing their faces keeps me encouraged to push through,’’ Minter said. “I’m so thankful for my family, my boyfriend, and my friends who have been here with me through this whole time.”
Minter said despite the long road ahead, she hopes to be back out on the road one day patrolling the streets of Pelham.
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope - Romans 15:4,’’ she said.
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