Officer Bryan Lawrence comes home from treatment

By Candice Nelson
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: October 4, 2008

Roanoke City Officer, Bryan Lawrence, is home. Now in a wheelchair, friends welcomed him with cheers.

“I find it unbelievable how much progress I have made from the time I realized how hurt I was to now,” Lawrence said.

On Saturday, he was at Roanoke Valley Harley-Davidson for the police department’s Memory Ride, raising money for Project Lifesaver. It was important for Lawrence because he would regularly spend his time helping out with the project.

Although he didn’t ride on Saturday, he’s grateful enough for his recovery.

“The five months at times went by very quickly, and other times it just creeped by. The closer we got to coming home, it just seemed like the slower it went,” he said.

Now that he is home, money raised for him at numerous events will help make his house handicapped-accessible.

“Enlarge my deck and put a lift that will take me from the first floor to the second floor outside. And I have to be able to have two fire exits on the second floor.”

He’s working on his strength. This week, he said he walked more than 200 yards with a specialized walker.

“That was the greatest feeling. I told them I wanted to be able to walk at least two steps out the same door they wheeled me in.“

Making strides each day one step at a time.

Lawrence tells us he received more than 1,000 cards during his recovery and read every one of them.

He eventually wants to go back to work, but he says he has a long way to go.

Lawrence was paralyzed in the line of duty back in May. Police say he was trying to arrest Dantonio Foster after a chase. That’s when they say William Steele, Jr. attacked him from behind.

Officer Lawrence was recovering at a treatment facility in Atlanta.