Injured OKC Police Officer Training For Memorial Marathon

An Oklahoma City Police Officer is on a journey his doctors did not think was possible.

Wednesday, April 15th 2015, 7:16 pm

By: News 9


An Oklahoma City Police Officer is on a journey his doctors did not think was possible.

Sgt. Jason Burgess was shot in the line of duty and chose the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing to do something extraordinary.

Burgess was shot in the leg and had to learn how to walk again. Five months later, he is running the full memorial marathon.

“That night really robbed me of something I really love to do,” Burgess recalled.

Burgess made a traffic stop on December 1, 2014, and as he was arresting the driver for warrants, a passenger unleashed a hail of bullets at him and his partner. He was hit in the leg, and struggled with his injury. Nothing was easy anymore.

12/2/14 Related Story: OKC Police Identify Suspect, Officers Involved In Traffic Stop Shootout

“Running for two hours at a time was not a challenge and after my shooting in December, I couldn't walk ten yards,” Burgess said. “That took something away from me that was very precious and meaningful,” he added.

However, Burgess made so much progress in physical therapy, doctors said the half-marathon was a possibility. He decided to go big and train for the full marathon.

“You can either let something destroy you, define you or strengthen you and I wanted to be strengthened by it,” Burgess told News 9. “I wanted to turn a negative into a positive,” he added.

The typical marathon training cycle is four to six months. Burgess is doing it in a three month period and said running on the 20th anniversary of the bombing will be even more emotional.

“The name of everyone lost in that bombing, it will make me reflect,” Burgess explained. “I'll be thinking of all the adversity, I'll be thinking of officers that we've lost in the line of duty,” he continued.

He was on crutches in December, had a walking boot in January and now he will run a full marathon in April. Burgess credits his family, friends and coworkers for helping him get to this point.

“In years past, I was really hung up on times and where I would finish and how quick I could get there, but, this one I'm going to really enjoy the journey,” he said.

Sgt. Burgess has been with the Oklahoma City Police Department for 12 years. He was home for 71 days due to the shooting, but he is now back at work and on patrol.

The Memorial marathon is Sunday, April 26, one week after the 20th anniversary of the OKC bombing.

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