Two weeks after a deranged man plunged a jagged knife into his head, a brave city cop left a Manhattan hospital today just in time to celebrate his daughter’s fifth birthday.
Officer Eder Loor thanked God and his doctors for his miraculous survival, and said he was thrilled to be going home with his family.
“I’m very happy that I’m okay,” Loor said moments before he left Mount Sinai Medical Center, the same day as his daughter Jaylin’s birthday. “There’s no celebration. We’ll just go home and be together.”
“I’m happy to be alive. I’m still not normal, but it’s great that they helped me out so far. Thank you everybody.”
The 28-year-old police officer was surrounded by the medical team that he credits with saving his life and his pregnant wife, Dina Loor.
“That’s all she wanted for her gift,” Dina Loor said through tears. “We just thank God for giving us a second chance at life together.”
About 75 cops applauded as Loor was wheeled out of the hospital.
Loor said he was feeling much better, but added he has a long way to go before he gets back on the street.
“There’s a lot of rehabilitation I have to do,” Loor said.
On April 17, Loor and his partner, Luckson Merisme, confronted an emotionally-disturbed man in East Harlem whose mother called 911 and said her bipolar, schizophrenic son needed to go to a hospital.
But when the cops arrived Terrance Hale, 26, snapped and plunged a 3 ½-inch blade into Loor’s left temple.
As his partner chased the man down, Loor incredibly yanked the knife from his own skull, then collapsed on the sidewalk.
Paramedics rushed Loor to the hospital, where doctors performed surgery for three hours. They said Loor was inches away from being paralyzed, speechless or dead.
“It was close,” said Joshua Bederson, chief of Mount Sinai’s neurosurgery department.
Hale was charged with attempted aggravated murder, assault, and weapons possession.
The city’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association plans to honor Loor tomorrow at an awards luncheon, along with Officer Kevin Brennan, who recently survived a gunshot wound to the head.
Other than the ceremony and rehab, Loor said he doesn’t have too many immediate plans.
“Usually we go to church on Sunday,” Loor said. “I’ll continue to go to church.”
Eder Loor and his wife Dina (
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