Fort Hood hero faces more surgery

KILLEEN, Texas (KXAN) - Police Sergeant Kim Munley, responsible for helping stop the Fort Hood shooting on Nov. 5, is preparing for another surgery to break up scar tissue in her knee, three months after she was shot on the Army post.

Munley underwent total knee replacement surgery in January and still walks with a cane. She said the most difficult part of her recovery has been learning to rely on others.

"I'm very independent, and so asking anyone for anything is really difficult for me," Munley said. "I'm used to getting up and going to work everyday and managing my littlest one. [The injury] pushed me up against a wall."

Sgt. Munley was shot in the knee outside the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, when she exchanged gunfire with Major Nidal Hasan, who is charged in the murders of 13 people on post. Dozens more people were injured.

As a Fort Hood police sergeant with advanced weapons training, Munley rushed to the Readiness Center when she heard the call over the radio that there was an armed gunman on post. She spotted the shooter and then she felt the pain in her knee.

"I forced myself to stay awake, not to close my eyes, not to go into shock so that I could recollect everything," said Munley. I had to direct my attention you know- from what was the obvious- thinking, 'OK, I've got bills to pay, I've got arrange someone to pick up my daughter.'"

In the aftermath of the shooting, Munley said she is staying positive and trying things she might never have done before. She is entertaining the idea of writing a book and in January, she attended President Obama's State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. Munley was joined by her father and fellow police Sgt. Mark Todd, who shot and wounded Hasan during the gunfire.

Ahead of her next surgery, Munley was invited by salon owner Ron King for a makeover at his Austin salon.

"What inspires me about her is that she has that softness about her but at the same time, she's in control of her life," said King.

Munley is a little uneasy about her new "hero" title, but she is embracing the opportunity to motivate other women.

"I would like to be a positive role model in case other females want to go into law enforcement and choose this career," she said.

Munley is taking life now one day at a time and is not yet certain if she will return to her job as a Fort Hood police officer.