SCOTTSBORO, Ala (WHNT) — In July, a shooting that left a police officer injured and led to an over 20-hour manhunt rocked the city of Scottsboro.
Almost 3 months later, recovery is still a daily effort for Lieutenant Derek Porch from where he was shot in his hand, to now affecting his whole body.
“He stayed in the hospital for a significant amount of time,” said Lieutenant Coty Durham.
Durham is the Lieutenant training officer for the Scottsboro Police Department.
“He finally got to come home,” Durham said. “Since then, he was pretty much at home unless a doctor’s appointment or something like that, just because his mobility wasn’t to where it needed to be.”
Every step of the way, support continues to flood in from his community.
“From the get-go, we’ve had an overwhelming amount of support,” Durham said.
On Sunday, there will be a benefit meal hosted at Holy Smokes BBQ.
“The restaurant owner reached out, and he reached out to know if there was anything that he could do for one, the police department, and two, Lieutenant Derek Porch’s family,” said Durham.
Tickets are $15 and all proceeds will go straight to the Lieutenant Derek Porch Foundation.
“The business is going to prepare all of the food, and they’re going to go ahead and make the plates, and then it’s going to be a drive-thru line,” said Durham.
The foundation helps Porch and his family handle his medical bills while he remains out of work.
Durham said Porch has had multiple different surgeries over the past few months.
The surgeries were planned for the hand, but with some procedures, they have to take things from other parts of the body or use other parts of the body in order to complete the surgeries,” said Durham.
Despite the challenges, Durham said Lieutenant Porch has kept his spirits remarkably high.
“I can’t say that I would be able to do the same thing, but he has done a tremendous job with keeping his spirits up,” said Durham.
The benefit meal will take place from 11 am to 2 pm at Holy Smokes BBQ in Scottsboro, located at 108 Tupelo Pike, and you can purchase tickets at the Scottsboro police department as well as the restaurant.
If you cannot make it out to grab a ticket before the event, you can still get food with a donation or ticket purchase at the event.
If you cannot make it out and still want to help, Durham said you can make a donation to the Lieutenant Derek Porch foundation at any Redstone Federal Credit Union.
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