Governor gives award to deputy
Submitted by jcht2010 on
Jackson County Deputy Bryan Martin made headlines in September 2014 when he was shoved off of a bridge near Lolita by Adam Twardowski, who was suspected of drunk driving at the time.
Since then, he’s endured excruciating physical therapy, and was back on the job in April, far sooner than expected. His attacker, Adam Twardowski received a 40-year sentence.
The community, including his fellow peace officers, have supported him in his recovery from his injuries. Martin also went to Austin on Sept. 9 where he received a Star of Texas Award by the Governor, honoring him for being injured in the line of duty. Created in 2003, The Star of Texas Award is given to law enforcement, firefighters, and EMS that are injured or killed on the job, and works on nominations.
“Congratulations on your Star of Texas award, Deputy Martin, but more importantly thank you for your dedication to protecting our community,” said State Rep. Phil Stephen”son. I am honored to have spectacular law enforcement officers like you in my district."
Jackson County Sheriff Andy Louderback said Martin is an asset to the sheriff’s office, and touched on the fact that returning to law enforcement after an attack in today’s world isn’t easy.
“Bryan is a quality individual,” he said, “he chose to stay in a profession that is extremely difficult. This is one of the darkest times in law enforcement. All those today in law enforcement have seen attack after attack on character. Other than being personally attacked on the job, we’re in a profession as a whole that is being demeaned and insulted. With all this, I honor Deputy Martin and his service, and all the law enforcement officers in Jackson County.”
The Victoria Eye Center gives free Lasik eye surgery to three area law enforcement individuals and, even though they had their three winners, they chose to name Martin as a “surprise fourth winner” in their contest.
Dr. Boozalis of Victoria Eye Center said they were compelled to choose a fourth winner because of the number of people who nominated Martin, as well as the compelling nature of his story.
“Most of our heroes had a single nomination, but amazingly, we received multiple nominations for Deputy Martin,” he said in an email. “When all of the votes were counted, we had three terrific winners; however, Deputy Martin was not one of them. We decided that the field of winners would be extended to include Martin’s name. We wanted to honor him for his bravery through the recovery process and for his perseverance to return to serve his community."
Martin said the support far exceeded his expectations.
“I expected ‘I hope he gets better,’” he said, “but everybody just crowded around me and was very supportive. Sometimes in law enforcement you have to do things that don’t make people very happy, and with everything that is going on with law enforcement, this community is awesome.
“I appreciate so much what everybody has done for me, and how they’ve rallied around me,” he said, “I do my best to serve them. I wish I could sit down and write individual thank you cards to everybody, but there were thousands. Everybody has had my back.”
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