ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis police officer who nearly died in the line of duty last month walked out of the rehab facility Tuesday.
Officer Colin Ledbetter, 25, has been in rehab since being shot nearly four weeks ago. After that near-death experience, he was able to head home Tuesday.
With every step forward, his fellow officers and helpers cheered him on, embracing him.
By his side?
His partner who was also there on that dreadful day.
On Jan. 26, 25-year-old Ledbetter along with Officer Nathan Spiess, were shot in the line of duty, after pursuing a homicide suspect into Ferguson.
When this happened, paramedics Bryce Schindler and Robin Robertson were nearby for another call.
"I said, 'There is a captain shot over there,' and he said go, go, go! I looked and they are carrying Officer Ledbetter through the back yard and he looked, not alive."
Ledbetter was near death, after being shot twice.
"Usually people who go into cardiac arrest due to trauma injuries usually have 1% chance of living," Schindler shares.
Every second counts, that's why both officers were jammed into one ambulance.
"He couldn't wait for a second ambulance, so we did what we could," Robertson said.
She also said another officer ended up getting trapped in the ambulance, but he got to work.
He listened to their orders and started doing compressions.
"We couldn’t have done what we did if it wasn’t for that officer. We don’t know where that officer came from," Robertson said.
They were on the scene for 3 minutes and 30 seconds and it took 12 minutes to arrive to Barnes Jewish.
When arriving, trauma surgeon Dr. Douglas Schuerer was ready.
"He had no heartbeat, he didn't have a pulse," Dr. Schuerer said.
However, Ledbetter didn't go down without a fight, which meant, they kept fighting, too.
"He was able to take a breath, which meant that there was still a chance," Dr. Schuerer said.
Since then, Ledbetter ran with that chance. Putting one foot in front of the other in the day-by-day recovery process.
"If you want to call it God, if you want to call it guardian angels, if you want to call it whatever it is that the young man did good in the world that is coming back to him, there is no logical explanation," Robertson said in awe.
What can be explained is how powerful this moment was, as he steps into this next chapter.
"He was injured badly and these guys go out every day and do this and to see one of our own recover like this, is awesome," President of St. Louis Police Officers Association, Jay Schroeder said.
As far as what's next, outpatient rehab is necessary.
But they hope they'll get him close to baseline soon.
A police caravan brought him all the way to his home in Bethalto, Illinois. Ledbetter's father shared this photo when they arrived.
