TRAFALGAR, Ind. — There is a new fundraiser to help a Trafalgar police officer who was paralyzed during a pursuit in June.
The injury occurred seven months ago, and a young family’s world was turned completely upside down.
“I never thought that this would be a position that I would find myself in,” said Trafalgar Police Officer Dustin Moody.
A pursuit in the early morning hours of June 25 ended with Moody being paralyzed from the waist down.
”From being in public safety to now having to receive help has been quite the role reversal and it hasn’t been easy,” said Moody.
Dustin and his wife Emily have an 11-month-old baby and a three-year-old child.
”I am the primary caretaker for everybody. That is hard,” Emily Moody said. “It has been an emotional, physical change that Dustin and I together have had to figure out.”
The injured officer has been in several hospitals. He was at Eskenazi Hospital, in an Illinois facility for five months and is now at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana.
Emily worked as a teacher before the crash but she is now staying at home to care for her husband and kids. The family is living in a temporary apartment while renovations are underway at their home to accommodate Dustin’s injury.
”We haven’t lived together as a family in 7 months and so when he came back it was a big adjustment of how we are going to be parents again together,” said Emily Moody.
The Central Indiana Police Foundation is offering a helping hand. Officials are starting a fundraiser for a wheelchair-accessible van to help with the family’s day-to-day activities.
“It would make easier access for my family to go and do things as a family again,” said Dustin.
Emily said getting around has been the most challenging adjustment.
“You wanna go out and do things and I feel bad because he is stuck, and he doesn’t have a lot of access,” said Emily.
The road to recovery is long but Dustin isn’t giving up.
”With the spinal cord, they say healing can take up to two years or it can continue to heal past that because the spinal cord heals at such a slow rate because of the nerves.”
Their oldest son is keeping hope alive with words of encouragement.
”He said mommy it is going to be okay. Daddy is going to have new legs and daddy will chase me again,” said Emily Moody.
If you would like to donate to help fund a van for the family you can do that here.