http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2005/03/12/news/news01.txt
or
Wounded officer's recovery progresses
JASON HUNT/Press file
Carrie Kralicek and her daughter, Alexis, hug following a recent press conference in Coeur d'Alene.
By MIKE PATRICK
Staff writer
Carrie Kralicek says her husband is very grateful for support
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Carrie Kralicek sounded good on Friday.
Her husband, Michael, is getting better.
Michael Kralicek is the Coeur d'Alene Police officer who was shot in the face Dec. 28. In a hail of return fire from two Kootenai County sheriff's deputies, Kralicek's assailant, Michael Anthony Madonna, was shot to death.
While the shooting now may seem a fading memory to some, its effects live with Carrie and Michael Kralicek every day. From Craig Hospital in Englewood, Carrie called The Press yesterday, wanting to share good news with the thousands of North Idahoans who have become unofficial but heartfelt members of the Kralicek family.
She was responding particularly to a card from area resident Lester Leroy Smith, who wished the family well and included four $5 bills in hopes that the donation might help them with staggering medical costs.
"I opened his card on the airplane and it made me cry," Carrie said. "I'm sure people were wondering what I was crying about, but it touched me. I felt like I needed to hug him."
Carrie said her husband's condition is improving, slowly but ever so certainly. He has some movement in his hands and legs, she said. She described his rehabilitation at Craig as "like having a full-time job. It's all small baby steps, but it's all progress, too."
While the road ahead to full physical recovery is daunting, she described Michael's mental facilities as completely normal.
"His memory is 100 percent," she said. "He still knows everything he did before, he still has complex thoughts, and he's still so methodical."
Michael's also grateful.
"He's so appreciative of everybody," said Carrie, who, like her husband, formerly served in the U.S. Air Force. "He's beginning to understand how big this is, how much the community is behind us."
Carrie said she still struggles trying to adequately express her appreciation, but she'll keep trying, just as she did the night of Jan. 26. That evening she stood before a podium at a Coeur d'Alene fund-raiser for the family's medical expenses -- an event that raised $100,000 -- and she played a recording of Michael saying "Thank you." There were very few dry eyes then in that crowd of 1,000.
"That night was really hard for me to speak, but I wanted to reciprocate, to tell people thank you, even though those words seem so inadequate," she said Friday. "I would have rather been in my husband's room that night, but he said 'No, you need to be there.'"
Carrie Kralicek is with her husband all the time now. She and their two children live in a family unit at Craig Hospital, one of the nation's most highly regarded spinal cord rehabilitation facilities. Their days are full of hard work, but their determination doesn't waver.
"We don't know how much he'll get back and we have no idea how long it will take," she said. "But Michael and I are extremely close and always have been. We pick up where we are and move forward."
Carrie said the children are doing well, too.
"They're part of the initial horrifying experience," she said, "but they're also part of their father's healing."
The healing process appears to be working, emotionally as well as physically.
"It isn't easy, but we both feel very lucky," she said. "People ask, 'What was the worst part?' Well, the worst part never happened. My husband's alive."
But Carrie Kralicek could be even more optimistic if she were assured that no other officer would befall the fate of her husband. Michael Madonna had been arrested just days before the shooting and had attempted to grab an officer's weapon, but he was out on bail the night he shot Kralicek with a .357 Magnum hollow-point bullet.
"I just wish there was a way to prevent this from happening to somebody else," Carrie said. "That man should not have been out on bail. No matter what, that will never make sense to me."
Still, Carrie said her husband won't succumb to his circumstances.
"He's very positive and he wants to get better," she said. "He's determined someday to go back to work."
Mike Patrick can be reached at mpatrick@cdapress.com.
or
Wounded officer's recovery progresses
JASON HUNT/Press file
Carrie Kralicek and her daughter, Alexis, hug following a recent press conference in Coeur d'Alene.
By MIKE PATRICK
Staff writer
Carrie Kralicek says her husband is very grateful for support
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Carrie Kralicek sounded good on Friday.
Her husband, Michael, is getting better.
Michael Kralicek is the Coeur d'Alene Police officer who was shot in the face Dec. 28. In a hail of return fire from two Kootenai County sheriff's deputies, Kralicek's assailant, Michael Anthony Madonna, was shot to death.
While the shooting now may seem a fading memory to some, its effects live with Carrie and Michael Kralicek every day. From Craig Hospital in Englewood, Carrie called The Press yesterday, wanting to share good news with the thousands of North Idahoans who have become unofficial but heartfelt members of the Kralicek family.
She was responding particularly to a card from area resident Lester Leroy Smith, who wished the family well and included four $5 bills in hopes that the donation might help them with staggering medical costs.
"I opened his card on the airplane and it made me cry," Carrie said. "I'm sure people were wondering what I was crying about, but it touched me. I felt like I needed to hug him."
Carrie said her husband's condition is improving, slowly but ever so certainly. He has some movement in his hands and legs, she said. She described his rehabilitation at Craig as "like having a full-time job. It's all small baby steps, but it's all progress, too."
While the road ahead to full physical recovery is daunting, she described Michael's mental facilities as completely normal.
"His memory is 100 percent," she said. "He still knows everything he did before, he still has complex thoughts, and he's still so methodical."
Michael's also grateful.
"He's so appreciative of everybody," said Carrie, who, like her husband, formerly served in the U.S. Air Force. "He's beginning to understand how big this is, how much the community is behind us."
Carrie said she still struggles trying to adequately express her appreciation, but she'll keep trying, just as she did the night of Jan. 26. That evening she stood before a podium at a Coeur d'Alene fund-raiser for the family's medical expenses -- an event that raised $100,000 -- and she played a recording of Michael saying "Thank you." There were very few dry eyes then in that crowd of 1,000.
"That night was really hard for me to speak, but I wanted to reciprocate, to tell people thank you, even though those words seem so inadequate," she said Friday. "I would have rather been in my husband's room that night, but he said 'No, you need to be there.'"
Carrie Kralicek is with her husband all the time now. She and their two children live in a family unit at Craig Hospital, one of the nation's most highly regarded spinal cord rehabilitation facilities. Their days are full of hard work, but their determination doesn't waver.
"We don't know how much he'll get back and we have no idea how long it will take," she said. "But Michael and I are extremely close and always have been. We pick up where we are and move forward."
Carrie said the children are doing well, too.
"They're part of the initial horrifying experience," she said, "but they're also part of their father's healing."
The healing process appears to be working, emotionally as well as physically.
"It isn't easy, but we both feel very lucky," she said. "People ask, 'What was the worst part?' Well, the worst part never happened. My husband's alive."
But Carrie Kralicek could be even more optimistic if she were assured that no other officer would befall the fate of her husband. Michael Madonna had been arrested just days before the shooting and had attempted to grab an officer's weapon, but he was out on bail the night he shot Kralicek with a .357 Magnum hollow-point bullet.
"I just wish there was a way to prevent this from happening to somebody else," Carrie said. "That man should not have been out on bail. No matter what, that will never make sense to me."
Still, Carrie said her husband won't succumb to his circumstances.
"He's very positive and he wants to get better," she said. "He's determined someday to go back to work."
Mike Patrick can be reached at mpatrick@cdapress.com.
