(Rochester, N.Y.) -- On Friday morning, doctors called Rochester Police Officer Anthony DiPonzio's progress since his shooting "astonishing."
Speaking to reporters at Rochester General Hospital, Dr. Paul Maurer assessed DiPonzio’s condition from the time of the shooting.
“We are almost a week into this, but it bears emphasis over and over that this was absolutely a very life-threatening injury such that, last Saturday night, the likelihood of us being here today for this press conference was, frankly, minimal," he said.
Maurer also said, "I am very pleased to tell you that his progress--given his injury--has been astonishing. He is far ahead of where we anticipated him being at this time. He is off the ventilator, doing well on his own with his breathing. His brain pressure monitor, I took out this morning; we've had no problems with that.”
Doctors also said his injuries went from life threatening to minimally life threatening, but he still has a long way to go. Recovery time could take up to a year.
“We do have hurdles that can still catch us no matter how careful we are. We have come a long distance from where we were last weekend. The likelihood of survival has now really improved dramatically. The odds are virtually 180 degrees from where we were last weekend,” said Maurer. “The journey for recovery will now start, for rehabilitation and so on, assuming we get safely through the next seven to ten days. But I am cautiously very optimistic that we will."
DiPonzio is now breathing on his own, but while he could go back on a ventilator, that is unlikely.
The bullet went in the right side of his head and, doctors said, an injury like that has an 85% death rate.
