Early this morning, my husband, Peter, was stabbed while on patrol. Normally he would not have been working last night, but he went in to help with a shift that was short officers. He was involved in an altercation with a car thief and somehow ended up being stabbed with his own dagger that he wears on his gear belt! He also sustained a heavy blow to his nose, which he thought was broken due to the amount of pain & blood. Of course, the nose (as of an hour ago) wasn't even looked at as it is a side issue due to the concern of the stab wound. The dagger went clear in up to the handle on the left lower quadrant of his abdomen under his bullet proof vest.
We are praying now that there won't be any complications from his wound. There is the possibility of infection and problems if the dagger cut into any of his large intestines. The doctor gave an optimistic report early this morning as he was not showing symptoms of intestinal damage, but he will have to be watched closely for at least the next 24 hours. The doctor removed the knife, so for the time being surgery looks like it may be avoided... but again, he is under close observation.
Please keep him in your prayers today as well as the rest of the family. Our oldest son is away at camp this week and doesn't know about the incident yet. Yes, we could all use your prayers at this time.
I'll try to update as information becomes available.
2:00 UPDATE: We just got back from the hospital and the prognosis is as well as can be expected. Although Pete is complaining of a little pain (and hurting in both his arms due to IV's) the doctor confirmed that he is having no symptoms of damage to his intestines and could possibly be released from the hospital as early as tomorrow. He ate some lunch while we were there, but he worried that if there is a small cut or something in the intestine that eating would be a sure way to find out...especially since they fed him breaded chicken breast and broccoli along with other sure-to-get-the-bowels-working foods.
He had color in his face and he looked pretty good considering what he has gone through today. The wound is simply dressed with gauze and I was able to get a good look at it. It's about as big around as a quarter (a little larger) and appears to be like a giant open hole. The doctor told him that it heals from the inside out and that there wouldn't be any sutures or anything like that.
His nose is still swollen and is turning black and blue over the "bridge". They will take a better look at it when the swelling goes down.
Additionally, he sustained a large cut on his left leg just above the knew. It wasn't deep and already had a scab forming on it. They had apparently put something on it earlier because there was still evidence of gauze/ medical tape and medicine around it.
I found his uniform in the corner - all cut up (from when they cut it off of him). His shirt was not there, but the pants were. An officer took the shirt with his badge, etc. back to the station. They cut through his good church belt and his underclothes, which were all there. It really was sobering to sit and look at those items. He felt bad because that was a NEW uniform and the underclothes were just bought for him late last week! I told him, "Don't worry about the clothes!" Still- I know he wishes they didn't have to cut all those things off!
We prayed for him before we left and I felt a whole lot better simply seeing him there. If there's one thing a police officer's wife dreads it's getting a call or having someone show up at the door telling her that something has happened to her husband! I believe God's hand of mercy is on us today and I feel very blessed that he is doing this well. Today could have had a very different ending, but we are praising God for keeping His hand of protection on Peter.
I would also like to publicly thank our Police family who have called today, shown up at the house, and offered additional support in many ways. So many of them went up to see Pete in the hospital, too. It really means a lot to us.
Keep praying and I'll update more in the morning. Thanks friends!
