Shot in the line of Duty - with Hali Bradford

141 - Shot in the line of Duty - with Hali Bradford

She arrived at the hospital with 30 seconds of life and a 99.99% chance of not surviving. Her surgeon was moments from calling her time of death. And then — without medical explanation — the bleeding stopped.



This week on the First Responder Wellness Podcast, host Conrad Weaver sits down with Hali Bradford, a Louisiana National Guard MP veteran and police officer who was shot and nearly killed in the line of duty on August 5, 2023. What followed was not only a fight for physical survival — it became a fight for her identity, her career, her mental health, and her will to live.

In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Hali recounts the moment she found herself looking down the barrel of a rifle during a domestic disturbance call — and how her CrossFit-built physical strength allowed her to drag herself out of the house, paralyzed from the waist down, to reach the partner who helped save her life. She was shot with a .223 round that entered her side and exploded into her abdomen, leaving bullet fragments across her pelvis, a fractured hip, nerve damage, and a permanently paralyzed left foot.

But the physical injuries were only part of the story.



In this episode, Hali opens up about:
- The profound lack of support she received from her department after the shooting
- Being terminated and stripped of her badge — a badge she nearly died for
- Living with no medical insurance, no benefits, and no workers' comp settlement while legally barred from working
- Navigating PTSD, anxiety, depression, and dark intrusive thoughts in the aftermath
- The trial of the man who shot her, which forced her to relive every detail
- How faith, discovered one year after the shooting, gave her a foundation to stand on
- The healing power of first responder wellness retreats and the sisterhood she found there
- Mission trips to Costa Rica and Africa that have reconnected her to her lifelong calling to serve

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This episode is for every first responder, veteran, and family member who has ever been left to navigate trauma alone. It is for anyone who has wondered whether help is really worth reaching for. And it is for anyone who needs to be reminded that survival — real survival — looks like choosing to get up one more time.



Hali Bradford chose to get up. And she is still getting up.



Connect with Hali on Instagram: @paralyzed_to_purpose

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