Miracle Man
Posted: Friday, July 8, 2011 12:13 am | Updated: 12:11 pm, Fri Jul 8, 2011.http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/news/article_46086d7c-a919-11e0-93df-001cc4c03286.html
By his own admission, Rick Phillips’ dream of being an active patrolman again will take a miracle to come true.
Miracles, however, are something the 41-year-old Gettysburg resident knows a great deal about experiencing.
Phillips, while working for Eastern Adams Regional Police Department, was involved in a violent crash with a tractor-trailer while pursuing a speeding vehicle at the intersection of routes 30 and 94 in Cross Keys on March 11, 2010.
Many who witnessed the result of Phillips’ collision first hand, including close friend and colleague Bendersville Borough Police Chief Mike Trostel, said it would take a miracle for him to live, much less walk again.
More than a year later, including an eight-month neurological rehabilitation stint in Creedmoor, N.C., the 12-year-veteran of the police force is not only walking, but also doing many of the activities he loves — except one.
“I miss being an officer so much,” an emotional Phillips explained. “Serving on the force gives you an opportunity to save lives and people’s property. It made me feel needed and wanted. You could come home at night and go to bed knowing you did something positive. I hope and pray for that opportunity to come about again.”
Recalling The Accident
It was just after midnight on March 11, 2010 when Phillips, traveling eastbound on Route 30 collided with the rear-axle of the tractor-trailer headed northbound on Route 94. The truck driver, Robert D. Pyles, 61, of Neelyton, Huntingdon County, was not hurt, but Phillips lost consciousness he wouldn’t regain for eight days. The driver Phillips was pursuing has not been caught.
“I remember that there was a car who would not pull over for me,” Phillips recalled. “He went through a red light. He tapped his brakes, but he went right through it and I went after him. Then I saw the trailer. It hit the breaks and the back of it was sliding back and forth. I put my foot on the brake but my cruiser was sliding. The back of the truck got brighter and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop. I put my hands up to cover my face because it was heading right for the computer in my car. That is the last thing I remember about that night.”
Phillips was transported to York Hospital where he was put on a ventilator. The first 72 hours, doctors said, are the most important when dealing with neurological damage and within two days the officer was responding to stimuli. He was upgraded to stable condition shortly before the next moment he recalls.
“I opened my eyes and the doctors were walking around me,” Phillips said. “They said Officer Phillips, Officer Phillips, Officer Phillips are you with us and I tried to get up but the doctors held me down. It was then I realized I had a breathing tube in me and my heart rate was rising. Everyone got me calmed down after that, but that was an extremely traumatic moment in my life. When you realize what has happened, you just want to get up and go on with your life but you can’t.”
Rehabilitation
After a few months at HealthSouth Rehab Center in York, Phillips boarded a plane at York Airport and flew to the Learning Services Neurobehavioral Institute in North Carolina, a campus-style setting specializing in helping brain trauma patients rebuild basic life skills.
Only a handful of residents occupied the home, according to Phillips, where every day began with small household chores.
“Sometimes it would be cleaning the kitchen, sweeping up, cleaning a vehicle or tending to the garden,” Phillips said. “They were really small things that took maybe 15 minutes or a half-hour but they got you involved and active.”
Speech and other forms of therapy were filtered in throughout the day as well as constants such as a trip to the movies every Friday and bowling one night per week.
Phillips became active in the local Meals on Wheels and Goodwill programs in North Carolina.
Catering to his love of gardening, Phillips also helped out at a greenhouse owned by Granville County, where Neurobehavioral Institute is located.
“Twice a week or so we would go plant vegetables and eventually take them to families in need or to a food pantry,” Phillips said.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Phillips returned to York Airport, in airplane provided by Hanover Foods, to a throng of law enforcement officials, family and friends standing near the end of the runway.
He shook the hands of many in the crowd before being awarded Purple Heart medal from the American Police Hall of Fame.
“It was so amazing to see all of those people there that I knew,” Phillips said. “That they cared about me so much to come out on that day and welcome me home, it just touched my heart.”
From the airport, Phillips hopped in a cruiser driven by Trostel and traveled down Route 30 and around the New Oxford square, where more supporters greeted him with signs, American flags and tears of joy.
“I remember when we got back to the house there were police there and they opened the door and welcomed me home,” Phillips said. “Those guys are all my friends and I have been through thick and thin with them. The whole community has been so compassionate. My neighbors who I have never even spoken to since we moved in this house came over to sit with me on the porch and tell me they are praying for me. It’s touching, truly touching.”
THE FUTURE
Although it’s his ultimate goal to be back on the streets fighting crime, Phillips sadly explained that might not be a realistic hope.
“I have to get my right eye taken care of first,” he said. “The vision just isn’t very good in there right now. From there, you never know. I may not get back to being on patrol, but I would love to be back involved with the police in some capacity. The thing that is first and foremost important to me is helping my community. That is one thing I have always done and always want to do. For today, I will continue adjusting to this new lifestyle and pray for each day I am here.”
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