Officer Recovering From Being Shot Gets Surprise For Baby On The Way
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - Thanks to a generous community and thoughtful designer, a Denver police officer recovering from a shooting and his pregnant wife received a sweet surprise Wednesday.
Sgt. Tony Lopez, Jr. and his wife, Kristen, are expecting their first child -- a baby boy due Thursday. Yet building the baby's nursery was put aside as Sgt. Lopez continues to recover from being shot multiple times during a traffic stop in December. He nearly died and needed several surgeries.
When interior designer Courtnee Robertson heard about Tony and Kristen, she knew she wanted to do something to help.
"I had actually just posted on Facebook about how I wanted to design a nursery pro bono when my soon-to-be sister-in-law told me about this Denver officer that got shot," Robertson, owner of Radix Creative, told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann.
For the past several months, Robertson and volunteers have been working on creating a special nursery for the Lopez family.
"I normally meet with my clients for one hour, but Kristen and I talked for four," Robertson said. "We instantly became friends."
With donations from the community, Robertson designed and gifted Tony and Kristen a brand new nursery in their home. On the day before the baby was due, the parents-to-be stepped into the room for the first time and CBS4 was there to capture the surprise on camera.
"Wow! This is amazing!" Kristen said as she walked into her son's nursery.
Everything in the nursery symbolizes something special, like the blue walls -- not just for a baby boy, but for his father's service with the Denver Police Department.
"It just feels like love, cozy, real comfort," Kristen told CBS4. "You know, honestly, we really haven't had that for a while with everything going on."
Sgt. Lopez said he is so thankful for the new room, but it is also bittersweet for the father who is focusing on his recovery.
"I was kind of bummed out that I didn't get to do any of it for him, but I'm super blessed and he's super blessed," Sgt. Lopez said.
Sgt. Lopez said it was his unborn son who kept him alive after he was shot six times late last year.
"After everything happened I was sitting in the street waiting for the ambulance and I just kept thinking, 'Well, if you can breathe you're going to live, so keep breathing so that way you can see him,'" Sgt. Lopez recalled.
With several surgeries down and more to go, Sgt. Lopez is working to regain muscle strength. And, once again, his son is fueling his motivation to heal quickly.
"I want to carry my son in my arms out of the hospital. That's my first goal," Sgt. Lopez said. "I think it's going to happen, so I'm pretty excited."
Of course, Kristen cannot wait for her baby's arrival either.
"Hopefully he comes tomorrow," she said.
Additional Information
Items for the nursery are still needed. For those interested in helping the Lopez family with the nursery makeover, visit the Lopez Nursery Makeover Facebook page for more information.
Kelly Werthmann joined the CBS4 team in 2012 as the morning reporter, covering national stories like the Aurora Theater Shooting and devastating Colorado wildfires. She now reports for CBS4 News at 10 and is always open to story ideas. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @KellyCBS4.
