LUMBERTON — Matt Lassiter remembers nothing about the moments that followed midnight on March 28 or several days that immediately followed.

But the 32-year-old sheriff’s detective, who is the father of two girls and engaged to be married, is unlikely to forget what has happened since.

“I have had an outpouring of love and support,” said Lassiter, a Fairmont native who has just begun his 11th year working for the Sheriff’s Office. “People stood behind me the whole way, praying for me, overwhelming support from family, friends, co-workers. I will be honest with you, I didn’t have any idea that I was loved by so many people.”

Lassiter was working traffic control at Exit 33 on Interstate 95 when he was struck by a vehicle about 12:05 a.m. on March 29, which was a Friday, and was tossed like a rag doll about 20 yards. After he was initially treated at the scene, including by a physician assistant who was driving the vehicle that struck him, Lassiter was flown to McLeod Medical Center in Dillon, S.C.

Robeson County residents, still grieving the loss of a Lumberton police office who was struck and killed on I-95 in December, awakened to the news — and worries of a head injury that could be lethal or permanently debilitating.

Very quickly there was good news, with Sheriff Burnis Wilkins sharing that doctors were hopeful of a “full recovery.”

Lassiter was kept in an induced comma and on a ventilator for 2 1/2 days as a way to keep the swelling of the brain down. As he was eased back to consciousness, more good news followed. He soon was giving a thumbs up to voice commands, and then he was talking and eating. Then, after only five days, his was on his way home to recover, but not until a fracture of his left fibula was discovered, which will keep him hobbled for awhile.

“I don’t remember anything,” Lassiter said. “I remember going to work, working traffic diversion at 301 and 95. I remember starting to direct traffic and don’t remember anything after that. I couldn’t tell you the color of the vehicle, what kind of vehicle. I couldn’t tell you anything.”

It’s not lost on Lassiter how fortunate he is that the script was not more dire. He has no doubt who crafted the happy ending.

“It’s only by God’s good grace that I am still here,” he said. “There is no other way to put it.”

When Lassiter returned to his home near N.C. 72, just west of Lumberton, he found that it had been power-washed by a Highway Patrol trooper in a gesture of appreciation, and that sand had been hauled in and spread on a dirt road to his front door that often became muddy during rain, an effort coordinated by We the People.

Lassiter is on the mend and looking forward to returning to work, although he is unsure when that time will arrive.

“I feel pretty good, I have good days and bad days …, ” he said. “For the most part I feel pretty good.”

Wilkins taught Lassiter Basic Law Enforcement when he was an instructor at Robeson Community College.

“There was no doubt when I met him that he would make a great public servant,” Wilkins said. “Matt is a very likable and approachable guy and has served well as a criminal investigator.”

Lassiter said the accident has been a reminder of the dangers of his chosen profession, but he has not wavered in his desire to get back in uniform.

“I haven’t had one second thought,” he said about returning to law enforcement. “I have protected and served for 11 years and I will continue to protect and serve. It hasn’t changed my mind about what I do.”

Donnie Douglas

Editor