Waterloo Marshal: "Officer Brady knows exactly what's going on."

Waterloo, Ind. (WANE) - One week ago, Deputy Marshal Stephen Brady was shot in the face when he responded to a call about a couple with car trouble. The Marshal, Jay Oberholtzer told NewsChannel 15 he’s certain Officer Brady is aware of everything that happened and is happening.

On his first visit to the hospital to see Brady, Oberholtzer said he was able to have a conversation with him, even though Brandy can’t physically talk because of a breathing tube.

“I went up to his bedside and I wasn’t sure if he was awake or not and I said 'Now, I expect you in at 10pm tonight’ and he looked over at me and started to want to smile,” described Oberholtzer. “He has all these tubes running into him and his legs start moving and his arms start moving and I kind of held on to him and said "Don't move, don't move! I didn't mean that.’ And he gave me thumbs up when we got done talking.”

The Marshal has seen Brady twice since that first day and says he knows eventually he and Brady will get to have a real conversation.

“He knows exactly what's going on, even when he appears to be in a somewhat sedated state and going through pain he knows exactly what's going on I think, pretty well every minute,” he said. “I think he'll have a lot to tell us when he recovers from this.”

Brady is still in the ICU in serious condition. Doctors aren’t giving a timeline of potential recovery and say his progress is day by day. Because the bullet went in under his left eye and out just below his right ear, several surgeries will be needed to repair the damage in Brady’s face.

“He was in surgery yesterday (Wednesday) for about 7 hours and that was the surgery to repair several items, the broken jaw from the bullet and the damage from the bullet. It went through the roof of his mouth in that area, to repair that,” he said.

There is no timeline yet given for Brady’s recovery. He and his family are taking it one day at a time, but Oberholtzer says those who know him best don’t need a timeline. They are just praying he continues to recover.

“He's going to come through it,” he said. “He's very determined and I believe the prayers of not just this community, but many people in the U. S. and probably elsewhere and that God will be with him and bring him through this.”

Oberholtzer said his wife, Jan stops by the station frequently to pick up cards, letters, and e-mails of support so she can read them to her husband.

“I think she's overwhelmed. I don't think when you do this every day that the support's out there, but it is and this event has really brought it out,” he said. “And she made a comment about how much it made her aware how great people are and how much they really help.”

There is a benefit scheduled for Officer Brady on February 4.