ORLANDO, Fla. – Three months after he was shot in the head during a hostage standoff, Orlando Police Officer Kevin Valencia remains in a coma and his wife remains by his side.
In late June, Valencia was taken to the Shepherd Center, a brain and spinal cord rehabilitation center in Georgia. Since then his wife Meghan Valencia has been dividing her time between Florida and Georgia.
"I have not been able to sit down and sort of process my feelings. I have been taking care of Kevin. Taking care of my kids. Taking care of different family members that it sort of hit them, but I just haven't been able to stop," Meghan Valencia said.
She's used to caring for the children at night and sleeping alone.
Kevin Valencia worked the night shift.
"He would sleep during the day and was sort of awake for an hour or two and then he was on the road. So, I am used to sleeping alone. Used to taking care of the kids a little bit by myself. So, I just try to pretend like he's at work or just sleeping," Meghan Valencia said.
But her reality is far different now.
Almost every other week she is in Atlanta at the Shepherd Center.
"I am just torn constantly. I'm here and I want to be with my husband. I'm with my husband and I miss my kids," Meghan Valencia said. "There's been a lot of making sure that he's OK and sitting with him and talking with him."
Kevin Valencia has had close to a half dozen surgeries and more are expected. Meghan Valencia said their son has had difficulty dealing with the trauma.
"He has his moments where he starts crying and he'll say, it's too much, it's too much. Daddy has been gone too long. Daddy needs to come home," she said. "He misses his dad a lot. He says that he hurts from his head to his toes because he misses his daddy so much."
Doctors don't have an answer as to when Kevin Valencia will recover and what that will look like. Until that happens, Meghan is staying by his side.
"He's the person who can come out of this and say, 'I'm still fighting guys. I'm still here. Where's my gun and my badge? I'll be back on the streets,'" Meghan Valencia said. "The prayers. I know that I haven't been able to thank everybody personally who has sent me a message, but I do read them and they give me a sense of hope and they give me that strength to say you got this. People are praying for us. We're going to be able to do this."
A GoFundMe page continues for Officer Valencia. Click here to help.