WALWORTH COUNTY — Adrianne and Angela Blanchard know the news would be bad when they opened their doors early Sunday morning.
"You don’t get a call, you get two officers showing up at your door. So when you open that door, you don’t know if you’re husband is coming home or what condition," Angela said. "You know nothing."
Deputy Wayne Blanchard was alive, but seriously injured.
It happened just after 1 a.m. Sunday on Highway 120 between Lake Geneva and East Troy.
Walworth County authorities say a speeding car lost control and hit the guardrail Deputy Blanchard was waiting behind, ready to deploy a tire deflation device.
"He went through a busy intersection with no lights on, speeding," Angela said. "And that's what caused my husband's accident, not him deploying stop sticks."
Now they say the deputy has a long road ahead. He's 53 years old. They say he has a broken femur, arms, hands, and ribs. He had surgery Wednesday and has another surgery Friday.
"Everything when we saw him was hanging there," Angela said. "His nose was attached by just this, that's the only part it was still attached to."
"He was impacted so hard he was blown out of his boots," Adrianne said.
On Wednesday, Adrianne and Angela said he was breathing on his own and able to move his thumb. They said the deputy started talking a little, and said he apologized.
"I've told him he has no reason to apologize for us, he did his job, he protected people," Angela said. "And he’s always made me that one promise: he promised me no matter what, he will always come home to me. And if a man can get hit by that and still come home to me, he kept his promise."
Authorities say the driver is a 25-year-old man from Racine. They are referring charges, including operating while intoxicated causing great bodily harm.
"If this interview does anything, please make sure it impacts you when you decide to get behind the wheel when you have had too much to drink, or have some type of drug," Adrianne said. "Because it will affect so many people. This has impacted just not Wayne, his wife, his children, his step-children, his grandchildren, and aunts, uncles, everybody, friends. I can't imagine why someone would get in a weapon of an automobile when they know they're too impaired to drive."
"Him getting in that car and turning off his lights intentionally to get away, he had enough mental capacity to do that," Angela said. "He knew what he was doing."
The Walworth Counthy Sheriff's Office says Deputy Blanchard is a 20-year-veteran of the department, and he also served in the United States Marine Corps.
Blanchard is a father, a stepfather and grandfather.
Adrianne and Angela want to thank the community for their support, especially their faith and law enforcement communities.
A family friend set up a Go Fund Me.
