Wounded officer given award, wife prays for recovery

Meghan Valencia for a miracle.

As she accepted the Orlando Police Department’s Life Saving Award on the behalf of her wounded husband, Officer Kevin Valencia, she asked his fellow officers to join her in those prayers.

“I know he would really want to be here,” Meghan Valencia is praying said Wednesday. “I just want to ask everybody to continue to pray, especially today.”

While his wife took the stage at OPD headquarters to accept the award, Kevin Valencia was preparing for surgery at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta — his 11th time going under the knife since he was shot in the head while responding to a domestic violence call in June.

The award Meghan Valencia accepted Wednesday recognized Kevin Valencia’s work in responding to a shooting at South Kirkman Road and Raleigh Street in March. He and fellow Officer Craig Broder helped treat a victim’s gunshot wounds at the scene, applying pressure and dressing the injuries until paramedics arrived — helping to save the man’s life, OPD said.

“This is Kevin’s third award and it just really proves that kind of officer that he is,” Meghan Valencia said after the ceremony. “He goes above and beyond and that’s... his take on being a police officer. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for the citizens.”

Kevin Valencia’s condition has stagnated, his wife said. Weeks after the injury, he was showing some signs of responsiveness, but those glimmers of hope faded as