Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly to undergo surgery to repair knee injured during raid
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly will undergo outpatient surgery on Friday to repair a knee injury suffered during a drug raid earlier this year, according to a press release.
While Staly undergoes surgery and is under anesthesia for a “very brief period of time,” Chief of Staff Mark Strobridge will be the acting sheriff in the event that a critical incident occurs in Flagler County, according to the release.
"I have a well-trained staff. We won't skip a beat," Staly said during a phone interview.
Staly suffered the knee injury in April when he accompanied the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit and the SWAT team on a raid to serve a narcotics search warrant in the Mondex, west of Bunnell.
This knee problem is not nearly as serious as an injury he suffered earlier in his career.
“I can tell you this is a lot better than being shot,” Staly said in a phone interview when asked about the injury.
Staly hyperextended his left knee and has been under a physician’s care since the injury. When his condition did not improve, an MRI revealed that his left knee had a 3mm tear in the meniscal cartilage, the release stated.
Staly is scheduled for surgery on Friday to repair the injured knee in an outpatient surgical center next to AdventHealth Palm Coast. He said it will be arthroscopic surgery so the incisions will be small.
Staly said in a phone interview that during the raid he was walking back to his car in the dark when he stepped in a dip in the ground. He said he didn’t fall but he jammed or hyperextended his leg.
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He said at first he didn’t feel anything but later he noticed his knee was stiff. He said the next day it was still stiff and he could feel “popping noises” in his knee. He said he has been wearing a brace on the knee for two months. He described it as a common type of injury in law enforcement.
"I'm not a sheriff that just drives to and from work. I'm an active sheriff. I’m out often with my people on raids and calls, backing them up, my Friday night patrols, those kind of things,” Staly said.
He said he was in court earlier this week for a traffic ticket he had issued to a driver who failed to yield the right-of-way when making a left turn, forcing the sheriff to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
He said the driver pleaded guilty, got a $161 fine and eight hours of driving school.
Staly said that early in his career he was shot while protecting another Orange County Sheriff's deputy from gunfire.
“July 31, 1978, 10:20 in the morning, it’s one of those things you never forget,” Staly said. "On the west side of Orlando in the unincorporated area, shot twice in my right arm and once in the chest and the protective vest fortunately stopped the round in my chest or the ER doctor said I would not be talking right now.”
Staly said after the knee surgery he will be home for several days, and he won't be able to drive for about 10 days. But he said if there is a major incident he will go to the scene.
He said: "Somebody may have to drive me there, but I'll be there."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly to undergo surgery to repair knee injury
