ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis charity is coming to the aid of four police officers who were injured in two separate incidents. One of those officers is opening up about the moment a driver crashed into him and his partner while they were responding to a separate crash.
Officer Brian Hayes recognizes the blessing of being alive. He and his partner are recovering at home two months after the crash on I-64. It happened two days before two other St. Louis officers were shot in a separate incident.
"The last thing I said to myself before the car hit me, I looked right at it, I was like 'Oh crap. I'm dead',” Officer Brian Hayes said.
Miraculously, Hayes lives to tell the story. He was training a fellow officer, just out of the academy, when a driver struck them on I-64 and Boyle in January.
"You couldn't even move out the way, it was so fast,” Hayes recalled.
He's now on crutches recovering from multiple injuries, awaiting word if he'll have to go back into surgery. He has a message to drivers.
"Just slow down and move over if you see emergency lights. Too many people get hit. Too many, not just police officers, you got MoDOT workers getting killed on the highway. Just slow down and move over,” Hayes said.
Despite it all, the officer is still serving. Hayes got word a teenager was in need of a bicycle. He found a donor and helped to have it delivered to her.
"Me as a police officer, my ultimate goal is to leave people in a better position than I find them,” Hayes said.
Now, an area charity that Officer Hayes is involved with wants to help him, his partner, and two other metro officers who were shot going after a potential homicide suspect.
"These guys, they don't get to work. They can't do their secondary. They can't do their overtime but the bills still keep coming in,” said Steve Holley with Budweiser Guns ‘N Hoses.
The organizations’ upcoming Hoedown fundraiser is already sold out. Organizers hope to raise a total of $40,000. That would be $10,000 for each officer.
"We can't help make them feel better but we can certainly help reduce that financial burden,” Holley said.
The hoedown will happen on April 16th at the Royale Orleans. Organizers are looking for donations for a live and silent auction to help them reach their fundraising goal.
For more information, contact Steve Holley at (314) 495-0820.