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Queens Officer Injured in Hatchet Attack Eyes Return to Work, Officials Say

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | October 14, 2015 2:43pm
 Officer Kenneth Healey was hit in the head last year while patrolling Jamaica Avenue. He hopes to return to work in November.
Officer Kenneth Healey was hit in the head last year while patrolling Jamaica Avenue. He hopes to return to work in November.
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QUEENS — A police officer who suffered a skull fracture after he was hit in the head with a hatchet last October is hoping to return to work next month, officials said.

Kenneth Healey, 25, who was seriously injured in what police called a terrorist attack, had two skull reconstruction surgeries and is still undergoing rehabilitation, said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the 103rd Precinct, at a community council meeting Tuesday night.

“He is doing great and he wants to try to come back to limited duty next month to an office job,” Cappelmann said. “He still can’t work full duty on this job but that’s his ultimate goal.”

Healey, of Oceanside, Long Island, was among four rookie officers posing for a photo on Jamaica Avenue near 162nd Street, when Zale Thompson, 32, who police said was inspired by radical Islamic groups, attacked them.

Before police opened fire and killed him, Thompson hit Healey in the head and another officer, Joseph Meeker, 26, in the right arm.

Healey had his first surgery at Jamaica Hospital on the day of the attack. He underwent the second procedure in January at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, Long Island.

Healey comes from a family of police officers. His father, James, is a Nassau County police detective. Healey’s younger brother, John, graduated from the New York Police Academy in June. He was assigned to the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway.