Journey of Courage: Deputy Christopher Dewey

It was February 18, 2009, one year ago today. In Mahnomen County, Minnesota a call came in. It was 4:00 A.M. and Deputy Christopher Dewey was ready to answer that call as Deputy Chad Peterson was ending his shift. But, they answered that call together with Deputy Peterson postponing the end of a long night to back-up his partner and his friend; brothers in blue wearing brown. It was a decision that saved a life. And the events that followed changed many more.

During the course of that call, Chris was viciously shot in the head and the abdomen then left for dead. But, he didn't die. Deputy Peterson heard the shots and could not contact Chris on the radio. He found him and made the call for help. He kept his head, he stayed calm, and he saved Chris' life. Those events and the ones that followed sent shockwaves through the Mahnomen County Sheriff's Office and the surrounding agencies and communities. The department is a family and Sheriff Doug Krier is the head of that household. In the months that have followed he has remained devoted to making sure Chris and Emily have anything they need that is in his power. The fellow deputies and dispatchers continue to make sure that Chris and Emily know that they haven't forgotten them. They, along with countless family and community members have worked tirelessly at various fundraisers to provide any assistance they can. The family gathered around the Dewey’s, virtually and literally. Not all of those family members have the same red blood running through their veins. Some of them have the blue blood of those who wear a shield, the brotherhood of the badge; a family nonetheless.

There are no words that I can offer that would tell what it was like for Emily to hear the call on their scanner of an officer down. She later stated in an interview that she knew immediately that it was Chris. I would not attempt to explain how that was for her. It isn't something that anyone could possibly understand or explain who has not experienced what she did. It takes someone very special to be a police spouse. Their role is a role like none others. They deal with and manage a life that most of us can try our best to comprehend, but if we have any real understanding...then what we understand the most, is that we can't truly realize what it's like if we haven't lived it. Every officer knows the risks. They all know what each day could bring and so do their families. That doesn't make it right that someone with evil in their heart can steal those minutes, hours, days, and months.

In the days that followed those shots being fired, miracles began to happen. Chris was alive. He was airlifted from the Mahnomen Hospital to MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D. He spent a mere 5 days in intensive care and was then moved to acute care until March 5. From there he was sent to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado for intense rehabilitative physical therapy. An already incredible story continued to be written with unbelievable progress.

The daily chronicles of the life Chris and Emily were forced into let their family and friends know the details of each day, but also began to draw others. Each day brought more and more visitors from all across the country to his CaringBridge site. We learned that Chris likes Spaghetti-O's and they make Emily go "Ewwww". His unique humor and way of looking at life came through Emily's words. His MacGyver-esque tendencies were in full evidence when he began trying to devise a way to unlock the belt that kept him in his wheelchair because he was sure he was ready to walk on his own. His response to one of the staff members that told him he was funny was classic. “I’ll be here all week. Try the veal.” Through it all we "watched" him grow stronger day by day. I don't mean to make light of those days. They were filled with hard work, a dogged determination and the steadfast faith and loyalty of Emily standing at his side. Then it happened. The complications began.

Chris was only supposed to stay two months at Craig Hospital. But, surgery to repair a leak in his sinus was required on March 31st at nearby Swedish Hospital. He began to recover well, and returned to rehab at Craig. One week after his sinus surgery, he had emergency surgery to repair a "bleed" that had developed. Shortly thereafter, he had two status seizures, and another surgery to repair a CSF leak. On June 19th he had a VP shunt placed. This failed on the 27th and was fixed surgically, but then failed the next day, leading to another surgery on the 28th. On July 29th Chris had a second shunt placed, and that was functioning well. Among other complications, Chris has had sepsis and meningitis. There have been other issues and additional surgeries as well. After each one, we witnessed a profound strength and ever-growing, steadfast faith in the young wife at his side. No one could read their journal entries and not be inspired by this young woman who had been thrust into the unknown without a road map. It wasn't long before Chris was dubbed "Superman Deputy Dewey" after a shirt emblazoned with that was given to him during one of the visits to Colorado by Sheriff Krier and Deputy Peterson. It was the most apt title they could have possibly bestowed upon him because everyone was continually amazed to watch Chris courageously battle back after each one of those bumps in the road. As would be expected, with each procedure, each set-back, it seemed to become more and more difficult to work his way back to his previous levels of accomplishments. But, he has never stopped working. He has never given up. He had at last begun talking again before the last surgery to place a new shunt. This one has once again proved to be another blow to his struggle to regain the progress he had made before. He has to date not found his voice again. But there's no doubt that he will. His is a determination seldom if ever witnessed before, most especially in one so young. The circumstances with which they have been forced to deal highlight a strength and belief in themselves, their family, and their God. Their faith has grown as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. Their journal became a place of inspiration for all who visited. There have been instances of those who weren't exactly "police-friendly" before but found themselves returning over and over again, in time finding a better understanding of what our officers do for us and a new-found respect for one of those men in specific and the law enforcement community as a whole. Others found their own faith being renewed and restored as they began a prayer chain that crisscrossed this country and circled the globe. The witnessing of the strong bond of their families, many of them putting their own lives and responsibilities on hold for days and weeks at a time to be in Colorado to offer their support, added another dimension to what "family" means.

And it continues today. Chris is still working and fighting. Emily is still loyal and faithfully at his side, working to be his advocate and make the best choices for him. The family is still standing strong around them. And no one has forgotten. His progress since the last surgery has been slow, but the grace of God, his own inner strength, and the power of prayer has brought him this far. He has a long way to go. His life was not taken that day, but the life he knew was taken away from him. They say, that when the Lord taketh away, he is not punishing us, but merely making room and preparing us for much bigger and better things. There is a reason that Chris is still with us. God has a purpose for those two young people. None of us knows what that is. Maybe a part of it is what they have already given to those whose lives they have touched over the last year. That is not for us to know. It's not our place. Ours is to continue that prayer chain for strength, guidance, healing, and patience. Ours is to trust that there is a higher power that carries both Chris and Emily through these times. And ours is to continue to give them the support that they need and to never forget, never let others forget that "A Brother In Brown Is Never Down".


Written By: Peggy Gunn Milligan - Administrator of the Facebook Cause
~A Tribute To Those who Wear The Shield~

The Thin Blue Line - Heartbeat of the World

Listen. Can you hear it? A heartbeat…it sounds like a single one, doesn't it? It isn’t. If that heartbeat was the heartbeat of one man or one woman, someday it would stop beating. But, it's not a single heartbeat. It is many hearts beating as one. That steady rhythm continues, always constant and never-ending. It knows no borders. It spans oceans and crosses mountains and deserts. It circles the globe in every direction...all those hearts beating as one. If one stops, the others keep beating, steady and strong. All those hearts that beat as one may be burdened and often are. The eyes that go with them often see many things that most of us never have to see. The ears hear an overabundance of things that most of us never have to hear. The brains have to process and register things under often dangerous and horrific conditions that would make most of us run in fear or cower in terror. The ones who carry those hearts inside of them all too often find themselves amidst chaos, violence, and death. They face circumstances that wound those hearts to the point that they’re bleeding inside and nobody knows because we can’t see the blood. And then they have to put those things away because they must go on; the heartbeat must go on. Those hearts often break, but that heartbeat that is made of many keeps beating.

That heartbeat is the heartbeat of the thin blue line, the men and women who stand ready to protect us every day and never hesitate to lay down their lives for ours. That single heartbeat that is made up of many is a heartbeat as strong as the steely resolve of the men and women who form that line. It is a line that is constantly tested, even more so today in a time when violence against them is on the rise. There are those who try to break that line by acts of outright murder of its members. Others try to undermine its strength by standing in front of TV cameras and pounding on podiums with their fists as they shout in supposed dismay and outrage terms like 'brutality' and 'racism'. And, if that line were made up of lesser men and women, there are circumstances that would weaken it by things like massive cut-backs, lay-offs, and lack of proper equipment. But that line is not made up of lesser men and women. That line does not break, it is not undermined, and it does not weaken. It can't. If it ever broke, we would be hostages in our own homes, afraid to venture out into a world ruled by chaos, crime, thieves, child molesters, and murderers. It cannot break. It will not break. And those who stand in that line know that. The men and women who rise each day and don a shield won't let it break. Even at a time when the ranks that make up the line are thinned and stretched to the breaking point by either a lack of funds or government mismanagement, those who remain along that line will not allow it to break. It stands strong and it stands true, fortified by the strength of men and women who fight for what is right and what is good around the world. Sometimes they have to fight the very ones they're trying to protect, but they keep fighting and that heartbeat stays strong.

They are the thin blue line. They are brothers and sisters. Their hearts beat as one. They are the heartbeat of the world.

Written By: Peggy Gunn Milligan - Administrator of the Facebook Cause
~ A Tribute To Those Who Wear The Shield ~