'He's A Humble Person': Hundreds Raise Money For Philadelphia Highway Patrol Officer Andy Chan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The prayers for recovery keep coming. Philadelphia police raised money for one of their own – Highway Patrol Officer Andy Chan – in Chinatown on Sunday.
Chan suffered traumatic brain injuries following a Jan. 3 accident when he was thrown from his motorcycle after it was struck by another driver who did not see him.
Now off a ventilator, Chan is breathing by himself but still cannot speak.
His cousin, Philip Wan, said almost three months later, the officer continues to make progress.
"He's recovering. Day-to-day situation, these types of accidents take a long way to recover," Wan said. "It's been slow, positive signs thus far and we're very hopeful he'll come out on top."
Hundreds of photos of Chan and his coworkers were displayed throughout Sunday's fundraiser. After the accident, Chan's family found all of the photos on a hard drive.
"We're looking forward to the day where he can come full circle and be with us all again," Philadelphia FOP Lodge 5 President John McNesby said.
McNesby said the fundraiser was the FOP's way of giving back to Chan. He said Chan was always the first one to support another officer whenever they needed it.
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"You would know when Andy came to work," Kyle Cross, Chan's former partner, said, "because he wouldn't greet people like hello or hi, how we would. He would come in and say hi-way. The whole unit would know Andy is here."
Wan knows exactly how his cousin would react if he knew he was the center of attention Sunday.
"He's a humble person so he'd be embarrassed they had this for him," Wan said. "He's definitely very grateful and thankful to everyone."