PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon State Police Trooper Nic Cederberg was shot multiple times and wounded on December 25, 2016. A little over a year after the shooting, Cederberg’s wife shared an update about her husband’s progress since that fateful Christmas Day.
OSP posted the following message written by Nic’s wife, Hayley:
“Happy New Year! This past year was traumatic, emotional, depressing, challenging, inspirational, awe-inspiring, and miraculous all at the same time. When we are submerged in this life of surgeries, doctor’s visits, physical therapy, medications, and the challenges of day to day tasks, it’s easy to get lost in it and not appreciate just how far we’ve come. Christmas Day provided a marker for the year and a chance to step back and take a look at all that Nic has accomplished and how we’ve grown as a team and as individuals.
I cried happy and sad tears on Christmas; happy because I got to sit back and watch Nic laugh and enjoy this second chance at life he was given and sad because this ever happened to such a good man. Nic is still dealing with quite a bit of pain and several medical issues that will likely last years, if not forever. I’m in awe of him that he doesn’t feel anger toward the situation, but rather he just focuses on the present and how to get back to his ‘old self’ in the future. We both have caught ourselves saying “I can’t wait for life to get back to normal”, when in reality, the old “normal” that we knew will never be our lives again. We have both changed to our core after what happened last year, and I believe in such a good way.. it’s an amazing feeling to appreciate every minute of every day, and to be able to watch my biggest inspiration fight each day to do what most of us take for granted. He never gives up. When he shows that kind of strength, I know we will be okay. To come out of this on the other side not only “okay”, but stronger, is such a comforting feeling, because we now know we can deal with anything that life throws at us now. Nothing is the end of the world and these tragedies we deal with in life is what makes the good moments great and the seemingly ‘boring’ moments peaceful.
On Christmas Day, we celebrated Nic’s Bday and didn’t focus on the past, but rather what the future holds. Not once did we talk about the shooting and we turned off our phones to just be in the moment. Nic opened presents, ate his favorite meal and cake and we spent time with family. He laughed most of the night and we created all new Christmas memories. The next day we allowed ourselves to talk about it. In Nic’s true fashion, he made jokes and said “Christmas is a lot more fun when you’re not getting shot.. this is great”.
We want to thank everyone again for picking us up and carrying us through this past year. I don’t know what we would have done without your support on the dark days and while we may not answer every text or letter (because honestly sometimes it’s just too overwhelming to think about the incident some days), we read and appreciate all of the messages. Hopefully it just keeps going up from here
On a GoFundMe page, Nic’s brother, Jeff, shared a number of updates regarding his brother’s recovery since the shooting.
Detailing the moment after Nic was shot, Jeff wrote, “As he lay there for a little more than two minutes by himself bleeding, he locked in mentally and found a way to survive.”
One update went on to explain the extent of Cederberg’s injuries. “Of those twelve rounds that hit him, five were stopped by his bulletproof vest and the other seven struck his flesh. Those bullets hit him in both arms, the torso coming to rest in his lung and abdomen, and two hitting his spinal canal almost paralyzing him. Of the seven that hit him, four were still inside him when he arrived at the hospital.”
His brother revealed one bullet is still lodged in the trooper’s lower spine and will remain there for the rest of his life.
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