VIDEO: Severely Injured Denver Bicycle Officer Credits Helmet with Saving His Life

A severely injured Denver bicycle officer who was hit and dragged by a Mercedes sedan in early December gave the opening presentation for the International Police Mountain Bike Association Conference held last month in Chandler, Ariz., and praised his helmet and his ballistic vest for saving his life.

Officer John Adsit, spoke to the conference via a pre-recorded video. He detailed the injuries he incurred during the incident, which occurred Dec. 3, during an anti-police protest at a Denver-area high school.

Adsit underwent 11 surgeries to repair crushed ribs, a punctured lung, a severed artery in his leg, a broken femur, and a cracked pelvis. In addition his spleen was removed, and he battled internal bleeding, pneumonia, vision loss, fever, and infection. He was released from the hospital in February.

In the video, Adsit says he believes the Bern bicycle helmet he was wearing the day of the "accident" protected his head from a fatal blow.

The injuries have forced Adsit to medically retire from the Denver Police Department.

The man who was reportedly driving the sedan that hit and dragged Adsit was arrested in March and charged with assault. Christopher Booker, 42, reportedly had a "medical condition" — what appeared to be a seizure — when he struck Adsit and three other Denver bicycle officers.

Mitch Morrissey, Denver's district attorney, told the Denver Post the assault charge stemmed from medical documents showing Booker had a history of seizures but did not disclose his condition when applying nine times for driver's licenses between 2006 and 2015.