Jackson Jambalaya

Can you stand some good news?  East Baton Rouge Deputy Nick Tullier continues to recover  after he was shot three times in an ambush by a shooter who  killed three other law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge in a July 17 attack.  Tullier arrived at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston in a vegetative state.  but is now starting to answer to questions and recognize words.  The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate reported:

Doctors at a Houston hospital expected wounded East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy Nick Tullier to arrive last month in a vegetative state, unconscious to the world,  as the result of severe bullet wounds and at least one heart stoppage after being shot three times by a gunman.

But Tullier surprised the specialists at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital by showing rapid progress and emerging into what Dr. Sunil Kothari called a "fully conscious" state.

 Despite serious physical limitations, officials with the Texas rehabilitation facility said at a news conference Thursday, Tullier is aware of his surroundings, understands questions and commands, answers "yes" and "no" by moving his head, recognizes loved ones and can even read words.

"Right now, it's probably still a little early to speculate" on how complete of a recovery the deputy might make, said Kothari, the medical director of the hospital's Disorders of Consciousness Program.

Kothari, though, said that Tullier's cognitive abilities have shown remarkable improvement in the month since he arrived in Houston from Our Lady of the Lake.

 Therapists are now working to build up his ability to move — Tullier can now tilt his head, move his left hand and support some weight on his legs but struggles with other basic activities — and are working on loosening up muscles in his throat to improve swallowing and possibly regain the ability to speak.... Rest of article.

WAFB posted this video:







Kingfish note: Tullier's recovery is truly a miracle.  It was fully expected on that dark day that he would die.  No one expected him to make it this far or do this well.  Meanwhile over at the Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi ACLU Executive Director Jennifer Riley Collins shrieks that some neighbors dared to post "Back the Badge" signs in their yards.