Waseca holds fairgrounds fundraiser for injured cop

Sixteen months ago, Waseca police officer Arik Matson was shot in the head while investigating a seemingly routine call of a prowler in a backyard in this southern Minnesota town.

On Saturday at the Waseca County Fairgrounds, the community finally will be able to host an in-person fundraiser that will double as a thank you from the family to the throngs of people who have lifted them up during their most trying times.

The Matson Strong Benefit, starting at 10 a.m. and lasting into the night, will be just like a county fair — except with no rides. There will be a car show. There will be 13 fair food concessionaires. There will be a petting zoo and kids games. There will be a gun raffle and a beer garden, a bake sale and silent and live auctions. There will be live music and fireworks.

All proceeds will go to the Matson family.

"Everyone that's helped us all throughout this journey will be able to be in one gathering place and meet one another," said Matson's wife, Megan Matson. "We're celebrating everything that everyone has done for us. I don't look at it from a money aspect at all. I look at it as if we're all together, finally."

This week, Arik Matson was named the 2020 Police Officer of the Year by the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

"Everyone's going to be there, everyone who's had our backs since Day One," he said.

Arik Matson's journey since the evening of Jan. 6, 2020, has been a difficult one.

Progress has come in fits and starts. At first, after he was taken by helicopter to North Memorial Health Hospital in the Twin Cities, his colleagues assumed there was no way he'd survive. A five-hour brain surgery that night revealed a bit of luck amid his tragedy: The bullet's path was mostly confined to the right frontal lobe, so it didn't damage Arik's dominant left hemisphere, which is responsible for communication, speech and understanding.

Still, when he woke up weeks later, he couldn't talk or eat or stand or shower.

By Saturday's benefit, it will have been 502 days since the shooting.

During that time, Arik Matson has undergone surgery for brain, eye and facial reconstruction. He also spent seven months separated from his wife and two young daughters while at a rehabilitation clinic in Omaha.

His recovery process at a clinic in Albert Lea plateaued, so last month he moved his care to a Mayo Clinic sports medicine clinic in Mankato, where he has three-hour sessions three days a week. He recently started going to a psychologist to talk through the emotions of his new and different life.

A recent eye surgery helped correct his double vision: "When I opened my eyes after surgery," he said, "it felt like I was sober, not like I was drunk the whole time."

One of the longest-lasting effects is that he struggles to easily move the left side of his body. His wife can see progress with his left arm and hand, and she can sense his brain making better connections there. A new athletic foot orthotic helps to keep him from dragging his left foot. He's still working toward being able to handle his firearm so he can go duck hunting in the fall.

The Matsons are excited to be able to show their thanks at Saturday's benefit to a community that's been steadfast in its support since his injury.

"Thank you for supporting the blue," Megan Matson said.