Paralyzed OKC Officer's Family Thankful For Community's Support

Jon Jordan, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jan Peery's worst nightmare became reality last week when her son Officer Chad Peery was paralyzed from the neck down as he tried to break up a bar fight, but she said the outpouring of community support is helping the family survive.

"It's one of a parent's worst nightmares. Anytime to see your children hurt and to see something this devastating," said Jan Peery. "Anytime there is something this devastating, we have a pretty supportive community anyway. And when something this unjust happens to a person, people want to support and they want to let you know that they are there and the family is driving some strength from that."

And it hasn't been just community support that has helped Jan Perry and the rest of the family, but the support they are getting from Chad himself.

"He lifts my spirits when it should be the other way around," Jan Perry.

There was some hope last week when word got out that Chad Perry had hugged his four children following a lengthy surgery for the first time since the incident, but Jan said despite that, his condition of being paralyzed from the neck down hasn't changed.

"He was able to hug his children. Now we all have a perception in our mind what that means. It is not necessarily the hugging that we all think of," Jan Perry said.

It's why family continues to pray, hoping someone upstairs is listening.

"The prognosis hasn't changed but we're still believing in a miracle. We are still hoping to wake up from a nightmare," Jan Perry said.

When asked what she hopes happens to the three men who injured he son, Jan Peery said, "I will leave that up to justice and hope justice will prevail."

More:

• 3 Men Accused Of Paralyzing Police Officer Appear In Court
• 3 Arrested For Critically Injuring Off-Duty Officer In Bar Fight