SEATTLE, Wash. — Sean Colpitts said he’s only alive due to a series of miracles.
The Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy suffered serious injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, while trying to recover human remains in a remote part of the county in August of 2020.
He said the falling rocks that injured him would have knocked him over a cliff had Corporal Tim Ripp not prevented Colpitts from falling.
“In my heart, I believe it,” said Colpitts, “I believe I would have died.”
Colpitts is also thankful to the Navy crew on a helicopter that pulled him up the 400-foot-deep canyon and took him to Harborview Medical Center.
Nearly two years after the incident, Colpitts is still recovering.
He's spent the last six weeks at the Rehabilitation Institute of Washington, a Seattle facility where employees injured at work, some with brain injuries, are treated.
”I have a visual problem. I have memory and cognitive issues. I have a prism in my glasses right now,” said Colpitts.
Colpitts said he continues to improve, but he does not expect to be able to return to work as a deputy.
“I would almost be like a liability to the agency,” said Colpitts.
The Navy and Air Force veteran said he would like to eventually find a job doing what he’s always done: serving his community.
“I really have liked helping people,” said Colpitts.
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