PHOENIX — One year ago, Officer Tyler Moldovan was shot in the line of duty eight times.
In the year since, family, friends and the community have watched as they hoped and prayed for a miracle.
"We're praying that God pulls a miracle and we know he can," said Peter Torneanu, Tyler's uncle, after Tyler was shot.
Moldovan wasn't expected to survive, but he did.
"It just shows me the human spirit is very strong - as are miracles," Sgt. Ann Justus with the Phoenix Police Department told 12News in January.
On Dec. 14, 2021, Moldovan had only been on the job since March.
"When they told me he was shot in the head, I had no words, so I could only pray," said Chelsea Moldovan, Tyler's wife, in a pre-recorded video released by Phoenix police Wednesday. "So that's what I did."
The couple sat down on the pre-recorded video by Phoenix police ahead of the one-year anniversary.
"We all know that I shouldn't be here. But He deserves all the credit because I shouldn't be here, it's all God," Tyler said in the video released by Phoenix police.
Over the past year, Chelsea has been posting on the couple's Instagram as Tyler was on a ventilator, as he was showing improvements, squeezing her hand, in physical therapy and making their first outing.
In June, Tyler was able to come home to Arizona from Craig Hospital in Colorado.
"This is a miracle from God, there's no other explanation," fellow church member Davis Margau said. "There's no denying it, he shouldn't have been here, he got shot eight times."
Later that month, 12News was there as his Desert Horizon Precinct Commander, Brian Issitt, gave Tyler his badge. Tyler was injured before he was able to receive his own badge with his serial number.
"I'm really proud of you," Issitt said. "I'm really proud of you and I know you've been waiting for this for a long time. So you are official now, this is your official Phoenix Police Department badge, congratulations, you're off probation."
The officer, is still here, as a testament to what so many hoped and prayed for.
"The injury hasn't changed my feelings for the career, for the job. I still love it," Tyler said in the video released by Phoenix police.
In the prerecorded video released by Phoenix police, Tyler details how he is taking more and more steps each day, and continues to go to therapy to continue improving.
The couple, looking forward to what another year of recovery will bring to Tyler's life.
"She'll tell me like, and the doctors will tell me like, 'Hey dude, you're not supposed to be doing this', so to me, it's just I have to overcome it to get back to where I want to be," Tyler said in the Phoenix police video.
"We have faith that it's only going to look so much different next Christmas," Chelsea said in the prerecorded video.
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