The sounds of bagpipes and applause brought a smile to his face as /*Officer Eder Loor*/ left /*Mount Sinai Medical Center*/ with his pregnant wife, Dina, and his fellow officers from the 23rd precinct marveling at his recovery.
"If you saw the condition he came in, and the way he was leaving today, it was a miracle," Inspector William Pla said.
It was only 2 weeks ago, here in East Harlem, Officer Loor was responding to a call about an emotionally disturbed person, 26-year-old Terrance Hale, when Hale suddenly stabbed the 28-year-old cop in the head. The knife penetrated both his skull and brain, but Officer Loor lives to talk about it.
"I'm just happy that I'm alive," he said.
The officer's neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai says this all could have gone very differently, but many people jumped in quickly to help save his life.
"He was rapidly deteriorating neurologically and the CT scan showed a huge blood clot," Dr. Joshua Bederson said.
Loor will still need plenty of re-hab.
"He is still complaining of weakness, lack of endurance," Dr. Krist Jan Ragnarsson said.
But he does have his priorities in order. That is, his family.
"The only thing I'm happy about today it's my daughter's birthday," Loor said.
His daughter is 5, and qfter all this turmoil, there's plenty of reason to celebrate.
"I just can't thank god enough for giving us a second chance in life together," Dina Loor said.
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