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Suffolk Couty Police Officer Christian Vidal was struck while driving northbound on Fifth Avenue in Bay Shore when the intoxicated driver veered into his lane on Sept. 1 of 2019, according to police.
Vidal was airlifted to Stony Brook Hospital with severe injuries, including a pelvic fracture, a ruptured aorta and a dislocated hip; for the other driver, the crash was fatal.
Vidal also developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) as a result of the traumatic incident, and was on life support for a prolonged period of time before he was transferred from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility on Sept. 27
The Suffolk County Police Department announced on Saturday, Sept. 27 that Vidal had returned to work for the department on limited duty.
They bemoaned the fact that Officer Don Dillon over two years ago, who was similarly injured by a driver who was high on drugs and broke his pelvis, hip and leg, is still unable to return to his post.
"Suffolk County police officers patrol the county 24 hours a day to keep our residents safe," wrote the Department in the Facebook post. "They do this during inclement weather, on holidays and overnight when most people are sleeping.
"The seemingly simple act of operating a patrol car under adverse conditions is one of the inherent risks to law enforcement. We were unfortunately reminded of the danger when two Suffolk County police officers were seriously injured in motor vehicle crashes and their recovery has been anything but easy."
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