‘Blessed’ officer back at work after recovering from life-threatening fall

Oak Mountain High School resource officer (SRO) David Morrow said even though he’s typically never been an emotional person, that has changed over the last few months after an injury that led to life-threatening complications and the 280 corridor rallying around him with love and support. 

“It’s hard, I don’t know the words to use to tell you how it all made me feel — blessed is a good word. That’s what comes to mind first, very blessed,” he said. 

Morrow, who is serving his second year as an SRO, was just brought back on board to OMHS in November after spending more than 24 days in the hospital over the past couple of months. 

“The recovery was just phenomenal, and I attributed it to all the prayers that were going up on my behalf, even people I didn’t know,” he said.

Morrow said he was getting ready for deer season and hanging a tree stand, when the stand broke and he fell 21 feet to the ground. He landed on his back and broke his T5 and T6 vertebrae in his spine, as well as a rib. 

When he went to the hospital, more serious complications arose prior to the surgery he needed, which forced it to be postponed and ultimately canceled. Following that, Morrow became extremely sick and then septic, and the hospital had to put him on a special machine. All this took place in the matter of a few days. 

“At that point, they told my wife there was a greater chance of me dying than living. They said there’s not a lot of people that come off that machine alive,” he said, and that the first 72 hours were critical.

Despite the low chances of survival, Morrow made it through the 72 hours and, after becoming septic once again, continued to stay in the hospital. When that finally cleared up, his wife asked the doctors how long they thought he would be in the hospital, to which they replied, “he would be lucky if he got out walking by December.”

That’s when, Morrow said, he really became aware of how many people were rallying behind him. 

“It was lots of folks: the school community, the churches, people that I have been involved with, places that I’ve worked with off-duty and they all came together,” he said. “It was just absolutely phenomenal the way everybody came together.”

The Sheriff’s Office gave him so much support, as well, he said, and the sheriff even sent out an email to everyone in the department urging prayers, which was something he had never done before.

A mere week and a half after the warning of a long recovery ahead, Morrow surprised everyone with his strength and progress toward a quick recovery.

The sergeant and his wife even made a Facebook thread where hundreds of community members, friends and family were updated about his progress. When he got out of the hospital, he spent time going to rehab, where they told him that he “was way above where I should be.” After a couple of weeks, he assumed light duty desk work, as well as working with Compact 2020. 

“I mean it truly is amazing based on what the doctor said. … And miracle, they used that word several times,” Morrow said. He added that he’s been back to the hospital several times to visit and thank the nurses who took care of him, and they all were astounded that he’s even walking. 

Even though he suffered from a minor setback shortly after — blood clots in his lungs — he stayed in the hospital and went back to rehab, determined to recover. 

Over the course of the difficult months, he said he received hundreds of get-well cards from students and community members, and he even had pastors from some of the kids’ churches come and visit him, all of which he is incredibly moved by and thankful for. 

Most of all, he’s excited to be back to being at SRO full-time. 

“There’s just something about being around the kids and giving them the support and help that they need, the guidance. It’s awesome,” Morrow said.