Nitro , Kanawha County , West Virginia

A Nitro police officer hit by a car on Thanksgiving is on the road to recovery.

Officer Jimmy Lee talked exclusively with Eyewitness News on his progress months after an accident that left him fighting for his life.

Officer Lee says the last four months have been unimaginable. He's been in and out of the hospital, but is closer than ever before to making a comeback.

Thanksgiving night, Lee was hit by a car while directing traffic on 40th Street in Nitro. He fractured his skull and ended up with a blood clot in his head. He was sent to a Georgia hospital for months of treatment and rehabilitation.

"It was a long time to be away about three and a half months. But it was worth it. They have state of the art equipment there. And I've benefited a lot from there," said Jimmy Lee.

Now back in West Virginia, Lee and his wife, Morgan, talked about his road to recovery.

"I used to tease everyone that this was a pretty rough way for him to get out of running a half marathon but we decided when he got better and was able to participate, that we were going to do a run," explained Morgan Lee.

The Nitro Police Department is spearheading a race call "Run for the Badge." Lee will walk in the race, and his wife says it will be a true milestone after months of healing.

"We didn't know he was going to be walking at that point and to see him being able to participate in a 3K is just a great feeling," she said.

Nitro Police and the Lees hope to make the race an annual one to help establish a fund for police and first responders in the future if this type of tragedy were to happen again.

Still a long road ahead, but it's a road the Lees say they will travel together, one step at a time.

"To see him where he was right after the incident and now we're having the race and he's going to cross the finish line," said Morgan.

"Every day I wake up and try to do even better than I did the day before. It's going really good. It's good to be home," said Lee.

"Run for the Badge" will be next Saturday, April 14th in Nitro.

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