Montana trooper recovering in Utah gets to go home

SALT LAKE CITY – After roughly two months of grueling recovery in Utah, a Montana Highway Patrol officer who was shot several times gets to go home.  His wife and his fellow officers wanted to thank the state during their emotional farewell.

Wade Palmer has been recovering from gunshot wounds to the face and head for the past nine weeks.  He still can’t speak because of the trauma to the left side of his brain, and he still has a lot of therapy to go through.  However, his wife, Lindsey, is elated he’s well enough to return to Montana.

“We’re so excited to get back home to our beautiful kids.  We have missed them, dearly,” she says.

She says she needed to thank the Utah Highway Patrol and the Fraternal Order of Police for the overwhelming amount of support their family has been receiving.

Lindsey says, “You made this scary time for myself and my family a little less scary.  To the Montana Highway Patrol, thank you for your unwavering strength and support.”

Neurologists at University Hospital say it took a lot more than just brain surgery to get Palmer well enough to return home.  Doctor Ramesh Grandhi says there were many different specialists who had to come together for Palmer’s treatment.

“We knew that we had to act fast and give it a ‘full-court press,’” he says.

Montana Highway Patrol officials say they don’t have the words to express their gratitude to the law enforcement community and the general public in Utah.  Montana Attorney General Tim Fox became emotional thinking about it.

“I’m authorized to say, on behalf of the people of Montana, thank you, Utah.  We love you and you are now all honorary citizens of the state of Montana,” Fox says.