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Jacki Cser has extra incentive during daily physical therapy to overcome injuries she suffered in a car accident.
She wants to get back to working the midnight shift, helping Omaha police officers as they respond to crimes and work their beats.
Cser is a police information officer, which means she's on the other end of the police radio when an officer calls in for information about a person or a vehicle.
While Cser is recuperating, some of her co-workers are doing what they can to help. A breakfast fundraiser will be held Sunday to help her with medical bills.
Cser, 56, said she is overwhelmed at the thought of her friends and co-workers organizing a fundraiser for her. She has been with the department for 17 years, and many uniformed officers have visited her in the hospital.
Cser suffered a broken leg, several broken ribs and a bad cut on her head in a car crash on Interstate 29 June 17 while she was driving to work from her home in Malvern, Iowa. She was driving through a construction zone when she collided with another car.
She was the only one injured in the crash, said Becky Boslau, a fellow police information officer who is helping organize the benefit.
Cser was in and out of the intensive care unit for about 10 weeks. She has been in rehab at Immanuel Hospital since late August. She also has been battling breathing problems after developing pneumonia while in the hospital.
Cser, who is known for playing her violin at the intersection of 11th and Howard Streets in the Old Market, said she's been able to walk greater distances but finds it hard while on oxygen.
Her spirits have been up and down.
“I thought I'd be further along,” she said. “I just want to go back to work. I miss the guys, the people I work with. I just love the cops to death and wish I could be there.”
The Sunday fundraiser will be from 8 a.m. to noon at the Omaha Police Union Hall, 13445 Cryer Ave., and will include a pancake breakfast, raffle and silent auction. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children.
Boslau said other employees have helped with the fundraiser, too. Michelle Jura helped with donations for the silent auction, and Irene Nelson solicited donations from grocery stores for the breakfast.
The fundraiser is intended to help Cser keep up with medical bills and living expenses. Boslau said Cser is out of vacation and sick time and probably is still two months away from being able to return to work.
“She is one my good friends, and I wanted to help her out in any way I can,” Boslau said.
Boslau said Cser has no family in the area. Her mother lives in Connecticut.
“The Police Department is a very big part of her life,” Boslau said. “She calls all the cops her kids.”
Contact the writer:
444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com
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