NYPD Officer Stabbed In E. Harlem Expected To Make Full Recovery
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- He's being called the luckiest unlikeliest man on earth.
Officer Eder Loor, who was stabbed in the head Tuesday while responding to a call of an emotionally disturbed person in East Harlem is expected to make a full recovery, doctors said at a news conference Wednesday.
The 28-year-old's injury nearly ended his life. Doctors said that though the knife went into his brain, it narrowly missed vitals areas and a main artery in his skull, 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported.
"About half an inch away it controls speech. About half an inch above that, all of his motor functions," said Dr. Joshua Bederson.
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Loor had surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and by Tuesday night, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters that he was conscious, alert and even speaking. Doctors said the knife passed behind his eye and into his brain, but said they were able to remove a blood clot.
Doctors are crediting Loor's young age and physical condition for what they expect to be a speedy and rapid recovery.
Loor's family characterized the recovery as a "miracle" and thanked God for his survival.
"I was crying, I was panicking, I didn't know what happened," said Loor's cousin Sasha Cardona. "Honestly, I thought that it was going to be way worse. I thought he wasn't going to survive, especially with taking him to surgery so fast. We were scared and it's a miracle."
The officer's wife, Dina Loor, said she knew it was bad when officers came to take her to the hospital.
"When I saw them in sirens, I just...my heart dropped," she said.
Dina said her husband is already talking about returning to work. However, doctors caution despite all the positive signs, a return is likely months away from happening.
"Thank God, he's fine," said Loor's aunt Soraya Cardona. "He talked with everybody, all his family. He said my name, he touched me. Thank God he's fine."
Police say Loor, a married father of one with another on the way, and his partner responded to the Franklin Plaza housing complex in East Harlem Tuesday afternoon after a woman called for help to bring her mentally disturbed son, 26-year-old Terrence Hale, to the hospital.
But the NYPD said Hale walked away, refusing to go. When the officers confronted him, they didn't know Hale was armed with this knife, police said.
"The officers informed him they would escort him to the hospital. That's when Hale suddenly produced the knife and stabbed officer Loor in the left temple," Commissioner Kelly said.
Loor's partner called for back-up and Hale was captured just two blocks away. The officer was rushed to the hospital with a critical stab wound to the head.
"One of the doctors called me," said Loor's stepmother Anna Canals. "He is very strong. He's doing good, thank God."
Officer Loor also played a role in his own treatment. Dina explained to CBS 2's Derricke Dennis that her husband provided his own first aid, before medical help arrived.
"He was able to pull the knife out on his own because he's an EMT. He managed to hold the pressure," she said.
Hale has been arrested and charged with attempted aggravated murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
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