Staff writer
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| JASON HUNT/Press Michael Kralicek is surrounded by family, friends and law enforcement from the Coeur d'Alene Police Department, the Spokane Sheriff's Department, and the Washington State Patrol after arriving at the Spokane International Airport Wednesday. Kralicek, who was shot in the face while on duty Dec. 28, arrived home for the first time since the shooting. |
Kralicek looks forward to a bed, barbecue
COEUR d'ALENE -- Recovering Coeur d'Alene police officer Michael Kralicek returned home to applause and the cheers of his friends, family and co-workers Wednesday morning.
"I'm glad to be back," said Kralicek, flanked by his wife, Carrie, and daughters Amanda and Alexis. "It's nice to be home."
Kralicek, 35, returned to Coeur d'Alene from Denver after his arrival at Spokane International Airport, his sense of humor intact.
Inside his van, built to accommodate his wheelchair, he joked about the phalanx of Coeur d'Alene police patrol cars and motorcycles, Idaho State Police cruisers and Kootenai County sheriff's sedans escorting him to the police department.
"Most of the time you are in a casket to get something like that," he said.
Not many people gave Kralicek much hope after he was wounded in a Dec. 28 shoot-out that left his assailant dead.
For nearly two weeks, he remained in a coma.
When he woke up, he said he wondered what had happened.
"I knew something bad had happened, something kinda traumatic," he said.
The doctors were pessimistic, Kralicek said, but he wasn't.
"I've still got lots of good things left in the world and I'm not quite done yet," he said. "I needed to come back up here and get back to work."
Kralicek was backing up two deputies investigating a hit-and-run accident when he arrived at the home of Michael Anthony Madonna about midnight.
Madonna, 39, was shot and killed by deputies after the suspect slipped his cuffs from behind his back, ran into his house, grabbed a .357-caliber Magnum revolver and opened fire.
Kralicek was shot in the face, the bullet passing through his carotid artery and lodging next to his spinal column in his neck.
Hours after the shooting, Kralicek was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Weeks later, he returned to Coeur d'Alene for a short time, then was flown to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., outside Denver, where he underwent four months of surgeries and intensive physical therapy.
He said he doesn't remember much about the night he was shot.
"None of the bad stuff," he said.
But he said he suffered from "horrible nightmares" after coming out of the coma.
Kralicek said he doesn't think about his assailant.
"I'm glad he didn't have to go through the rehab I went through because I don't think most people could have survived it anyway," he said. "It was pretty tough. A lot of pain."
Kralicek said he would continue rehab at home, but the first thing he wants to do is sleep.
Next, a barbecue.
"I like ribs," he said. "Pork ribs."
He credited his wife for supporting him through the ordeal.
"The only difference of what we went through is she didn't have the same (support)," he said. "She's been busy."
He also said he was stunned by the amount of support he received from the community.
"All the people who didn't know me. That was surprising."
Denver police awarded him with the law enforcement Purple Heart.
The Coeur d'Alene Police Department is expected to award him another Purple Heart in a later ceremony.
"They beat us to it," said Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Wendy Carpenter.
Meantime, Kralicek continues to improve.
"I'm still getting used to my voice," he said. "They just took the trach (tube) out a couple weeks ago."
It was his voice that answered a dispatcher's call about 11:15 a.m. as the motorcade escorting Kralicek's new van rolled into Idaho.
"They said, 'K-5-7, Central,'" Kralicek said.
"They were looking for me for something," he said. "It usually means I'm in trouble. 'Contact your sergeant' or something."
Traditionally, dispatchers usually don't direct calls to specific officers, but to ones working defined districts.
This time it was different.
"They said, 'Welcome back,'" Kralicek said.
Dave Turner can be reached at 664-8176, ext. 2009 or at dturner@cdapress.com.
