INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis police officer who was shot in the line of duty continues his recovery at home, but still has a long road ahead.
Ofc. Tommy Mangan was seriously wounded during a traffic stop in Fountain Square in February. The bullet shattered his voice box and he has nerve damage that makes him sensitive to light.
"The bullet hit him here in his neck and it went out his right shoulder. It just hit once," Mangan's wife, Emory, said. "It went right through his thyroid cartilage, which is where the front of your vocal cords attach, so his vocal chords were shattered."
Therapy for the 26-year-old officer is ongoing.
The Mangans, who have been married 3 1/2 years, do not like or seek the spotlight, but when Tommy was shot, they became front page news. Through it all, they have expressed their gratitude for each other, the community and their faith in God.
"It's not lost on me that Tommy got to come home, not everyone has that privilege," Emory said. "So while it has been so hard, what we have been through, I think at the end of the day the pervading emotion is really just thankfulness ... thankfulness that we get to be together."
While Tommy healed, he communicated by writing notes. They have piles of notebooks from months of conversations.
"We all come together to form a community and ... yeah, some days are harder than others, but by being grateful and supporting each other, It makes those harder days easier to get through," Tommy said.
He will have surgery in September to revise the scar in his neck. His goals are to get back to driving and also add volume to his voice, but it's tricky.
"If you make the airway more narrow, it will increase the volume, but then it also makes it harder to breathe, since when you're drawing in air and letting air out, you don't get as much there," Mangan said. "So a balance once, after the surgery, more healing, we'll see if we can get that volume up some more."
While the bullet impacted his voice, his vision and stole his career, Mangan told 13News he wouldn't change a thing. The couple said in the midst of their suffering and hardship, there is hope.
"Tommy said he wouldn't change anything. I'm still getting there, but his conviction is that it's all worth it. He wouldn't change anything, because he trusts that God has placed this in our lives for a reason," Emory said.
"Wouldn't change anything since going through something challenging allows you to grow and through this, we've both grown a lot and experienced such love and care from the community," Tommy said.
Tommy Mangan is one of 10 children. Many of them have helped as he recovers and are grateful for the support from IMPD and the community after his life changed in an instant.