PRAYING FOR A-21:

Comatose officer reacts to scanner calls (TY PHILLIPS, September 14, 2002, Modesto Bee)

A dispatcher sends the call over the police radio at the top of each hour.

"A-21." "A-21."

The message is followed by silence. A-21 cannot answer.

Because A-21 is Modesto police Sgt. Steve May, who has been in a coma since a car crash left him critically injured. It happened July 29 while May was on duty.

A couple of weeks ago, Sgt. Ron Cloward had a police scanner hooked up in May's room at Memorial Medical Center. The hope was that he might respond to something so familiar.

Those who spend time in May's room -- mostly relatives and close friends -- believe it has helped. The movements are subtle, the steps small. But they are there. [...]

The most recent example happened last week as one of her husband's nurses charted his vital signs. As she did, a call came over the scanner that made May's blood pressure shoot up and his pulse race. He became distressed, even turning his head toward the scanner.

The nurse worked to calm May down, rubbing his hands and talking to him. But it was not until the dispatcher said no further assistance was necessary that May's vital signs returned to normal.

The following morning, the nurse told Diana May what had happened. She did not think much of it at first. Then later that day she learned that the call regarded a sheriff's deputy who had been involved in a crash and was not answering his radio. The deputy suffered minor injuries.

"That just confirmed it for me," Diana May said. "It lets me know that he's still in there. I know that he hears us. It's just a matter of time until he's back."

NPR did this story this morning and it was extraordinarily touching. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 28, 2002 9:35 AM