Ft. Worth Officer Improving As Donations Pour In
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FORT WORTH (KRLD-AM) - The Fort Worth police officer shot in the line of duty last month continues to show signs of improvement and donations keep pouring in.
Officer Matthew Pearce's family posted on his GoFundMe page that he has been able to move to a chair with a walker and sit up for much of the day Thursday and his lab work shows his kidneys are starting to recover.
As for the community's response, people flocked to Chick-Fil-A for dinner Monday, with a portion of sales going to Pearce and his family. Various police associations were also selling "Team Pearce" t-shirts, and they sold out in less than an hour.
Sherri Aaron spearheaded the campaign and says while she does not have a grand total yet, "$100,000 is where we know we are for sure and it's still climbing."
"Team Pearce" t-shirts will continue to be sold online until midnight Friday night. To order one, click here.
And that doesn't include the GoFundMe campaign, which has now topped $85,000.
Aaron, whose husband is Mansfield Police Chief Tracy Aaron, says the money will come in handy.
"Even though $200,000 sounds like a lot, it's really not when expenses start coming up that you were not prepared for," says Aaron. "Most people may or may not know, but they (police officers) work part-time jobs, so they not only work their full-time jobs, but they work off duty and things like that, so that's income that comes into their families."
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)