A Grapevine police officer will be home from the hospital in time for Thanksgiving, just five weeks after a motorcycle crash that nearly took his life.
"Good time of year to be thankful, and I've got plenty to be thankful for this year," said senior officer R.J. Hudson. "I'm lucky to be here, I'm lucky to be alive."
Hudson was thrown from his police motorcycle the morning of Oct. 19, when an SUV swerved into his lane and hit him in the southbound lanes of Texas 121 near Hall-Johnson Road.
The impact destroyed the police motorcycle, and sent Hudson tumbling for 275 feet.
The 12-year veteran of the Grapevine Police Department suffered multiple internal injuries and nearly two dozen broken bones, which were shattered into more than 100 pieces.
"I can't complain about any of the injuries that I have," Hudson said. "They're all fixed and all on the mend."
Hudson now uses a wheelchair most of the time, but can already walk with the help of a knee crutch.
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Doctors at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Grapevine will release him from the hospital Wednesday morning.
"I'm looking forward to being more time with my wife, more time with my little girl and sitting on my own couch with my dogs, and I'm excited to go home," Hudson said.
"Puts a lot of things in perspective about don't sweat the small stuff," added Hudson's wife, Angie. "If he can live through this, then to come home and spend time with us at Thanksgiving, we're pretty fired up about that."
The crash that sent Hudson to the hospital remains under investigation. At the time of the crash, Hudson was trying to pull over another driver for speeding.
