Nearly a month after he struggled for his life, the battle to recover continues for Sanger Police Officer Reece Dunn.
On October 20, Dunn was driving on FM 455 in front of Sanger High School when a vehicle coming the opposite direction crossed into his lane of traffic and collided with his car head-on.
"Last thing I remember is a loud crash,” said Dunn.
The driver of the other vehicle was killed in the crash and two child passengers had to be transported to area hospitals.
Dunn was trapped in his vehicle, upside down, for nearly an hour while crews worked to free him and the people in the other car.
When they did finally get the off-duty officer freed, he was transported by air to Medical Center of Plano where he said he was fixed up and almost released that evening, but stomach pains had him urging doctors to do more tests.
That ended up being the right move as doctors found serious internal damage to his pancreas and other organs that required immediate attention.
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"She said if she didn't do the surgery when she did that he would have...he wouldn't be here today," said Jessica Dunn, Reece’s wife, who is still by his side at the hospital.
The couple spoke to NBC5 via FaceTime Tuesday as Reece continues to deal with the effects of his internal injuries almost a month later.
Dunn said it could be months before he’s recovered enough to go back to work, and that’s with luck on his side.
"I can't wait to get back. That's all I want to do is get back,” he said.
Until then, the family is getting serious support from the community.
On Tuesday night, friends held a benefit for the Dunn family at Circle R Ranch in Flower Mound.
The Ranch donated the facility and food for the night while community members, local companies and even athletes donated items to be auctioned to the public.
Denton County Precinct 4 Constable Tim Burch and his Chief Deputy Barry Minoff organized the event to help out their long-time friend and fellow peace officer.
"When he has exhausted all of his vacation and leave, basically, they'll be living on her salary,” said Burch.
They hoped to raise enough to help them through the continued battle.
Dunn said he was humbled by all of the community support and couldn’t thank everyone enough for their help.
"There's a lot of good people out there that have helped us out, a lot of people that I know and even more that I don't know. It's just very humbling,” said Dunn.
Jessica Dunn said there have been talks about releasing Reece from the hospital and into home care soon.
