This was a monumental week for a police officer in Northeast Georgia.
Four years after a stabbing during an attack severed the femoral artery of Athens Clarke County Officer Courtney Gale and brought her close to the end of her living days, the police officer resumed her crime-fighting responsibilities, the Athens Patch reports. Despite having lost so much blood that she nearly lost her leg, Gale recovered with the aid of people who hold occupational therapy jobs, physical therapy jobs and speech therapy jobs.
"Knowing Courtney, she will knock down walls to get where she wants to go," county police department chief Jack Lumpkin told the news source.
Gale said she does not remember the details of the attack while she was working a security detail at the local Kroger supermarket, but she wears a leg brace. When she returned this past Tuesday, she and her peers shared many hugs as she compared the department to "a big family" while also noting "It was very exciting."
All 50 U.S. states regulate the work performed by occupational therapists, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.