ORLANDO, Fla. – Surrounded by her Orlando Police Department family, Meghan Valencia took the stage Wednesday to accept a lifesaving award on her husband’s behalf.
Six months after her husband, Officer Kevin Valencia, was shot in the line of duty, Meghan said the award proves her husband lives to protect and serve.
"(It) just really proves the kind of officer that he is. He goes above and beyond. That's his take on being a police officer,” she said of her husband. “There's nothing he wouldn't do for the citizens and how he is as a person, he'll drop everything to go and save somebody."
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And that's what police said he did March 31 when he responded to a shooting near Raleigh Street and South Kirkman Road.
According to department officials, Valencia and Officer Craig Broder saved the victim's life by applying pressure to his wounds for five minutes until paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital.
Meghan Valencia said Wednesday’s award was the third lifesaving award her husband has earned, and she was honored to accept it on his behalf, but wishes he could have accepted it himself.
“I'm happy that I can accept it for him, but it's very sad that he couldn't be here himself,” she said.
Almost three months after March incident, Valencia was shot during a hostage situation in Orlando.
Meghan said her husband is still in a coma at a hospital in Georgia, and was undergoing his 11th surgery Wednesday.
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She was able to give an update on her husband’s condition during the ceremony.
"The right eye where the bullet had entered, he lost his eye. That was kinda the sad news that I've gotten this week,” she said.
Meghan said she’s thankful for her OPD family's support, and asked that the community continue to keep her family, including their two sons, in their prayers.