They “Brought Me Back to Life”

Photo courtesy of MBTA Transit Police.

For the first time, the MBTA Transit Police officer who was shot in the leg and nearly died, after chasing the Boston bombing suspects, spoke out about his condition and ongoing recovery.

In an update posted on the MBTA Transit Police blog on Wednesday, Officer Richard Donohue says he is “able to walk briefly” when using a walker, and his leg pain “varies day to day,” but he is hopeful and optimistic that he will make a full recovery. “I am now awake, moving around, talking, and telling jokes (much to my Wife’s dismay),” he wrote.

When Donohue was first brought to the hospital following a firefight with one of the Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, he had almost no blood and no pulse, but the team of medical personnel at Mount Auburn Hospital “miraculously brought me back to life,” he says.

In his letter to the community, Donohue asked that the public respect his privacy as he continues to heal and spend time with his family during this difficult transition, however, he thanked people for their “outpouring of prayers and endless support,” and acknowledged the heroism that members of the Transit, Boston, Harvard, Watertown, Cambridge and State Police showed when coming to his aid in a time of crisis. Donohue says the bullet that went into his leg will stay there, but trying to keep a positive attitude about his extensive injury, he joked that it would get him out of household chores once he is finally able to leave the hospital and return home to his wife.

Donohue also sent his “heartfelt” condolences to the family and friends of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly shot and killed by the Tsarnaev brothers before they took officers on a two-day chase through parts of Greater Boston.  Donohue and Collier were friends in the academy, he says.

While he isn’t speaking publicly about what happened the night he was shot in Watertown, the Transit officer has promised that as he pieces together the incident, he will share his tale with the community. “We want to again thank everyone for their prayers and concerns. I, however, have very little memory of the week’s events and am working with officials to piece everything together. When the full story of that evening is accounted for, it will be wilder than any movie you have ever seen. And it will contain more heroes,” says Donohue.