OKC Police Officer Returns After Brain Injury

This is the day a lot of people at the Oklahoma City Police Department have been waiting for, for many months.

The day Officer Matt Grice would be able to join them back on patrol. And it is nothing short of miracle.

Grice suffered a major head injury in a car accident back in September of 2013. Now, he has a scar that circles his head. It is a scar he wears as a badge of honor, right along with his police badge.

Yeah the scar is pretty big," said Grice. "It's pretty awesome."

Officer Grice knows how lucky he is to be alive, let alone back on the force.

Many remember the graphic images from his accident back in September of 2013.

Grice was sitting in his jeep at a red light in Shawnee, when he was hit from behind by a distracted driver.

He said he doesn't remember the impact, and he forgives the driver, and he's just thankful to be alive to see his wife, two beautiful daughters, and family. But it was not an easy road.

Months of recovery followed.

At one point, Officer Grice had to have part of his skull taken out to relieve pressure on his brain. All the while, his wife and children and police family prayed he'd make a full recovery.

And slowly by surely, he did.

"You know I just put it all in God's hands and He helped me recover," said Grice.

Now he's walking, and talking and ready to hit the streets again.

In fact this is the second bad car accident Matt has recovered from. And he realizes just how lucky he is to have survived either one, like a cat with 9 lives.

"My wife tells me the same thing, that my 9 lives are running out, so we'll see," laughed Grice. "I hope that's not the case."

Officer Grice credits the love of his family, friends, and above all God for getting him through the hard times. And he can't thank his police family enough for being there every step of the way.

And his police family is glad to have him back too.

"He proved a lot of doctors and a lot of people wrong, so we're very proud of him and he's a great representative of our department," said Captain Paco Balderrama with the Oklahoma City Police Department.

And the one piece of advice Grice has to everyone is to never give up, no matter what.

Besides being an officer, he was a high school state wrestling champ and MMA fighter. He now runs an MMA gym to inspire others to work hard and never give up.