The legend of the 'Delco Legend' continues to grow.
Even if Chris Dorman wishes it would not.
About the only thing the Folcroft police officer wants is for his life to return to its normal routine.
'Routine' is a funny word when it comes to police officers and first responders.
People - including some of us in the news racket - have a tendency to refer to 'routine' police calls.
Those who know and love cops - their family and friends - know there is no such thing.
That's why they grimace just a bit every time they hear it. They are all too aware that when their loved one leaves the house every day, there is no guarantee that they will return home safe and sound.
Dorman was responding to just such a 'routine' call last summer for a report of drug activity behind a local apartment complex when he encountered something that was anything but routine.
Dorman scuffled with a suspect, then was knocked to the ground. That's when he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
He was shot several times, clinging to life when he was rushed to the hospital by a fellow officer, while still another confronted the suspect and exchanged gunfire with him.
Amazingly, Dorman left the hospital just a few days later, albeit with the scars of his life-threatening encounter still visible fater taking bullets to his face, back and legs.
Thus was born the 'Delco Legend.'
This week Dorman, his fellow Folcroft officers and many others were honored at a very special dinner by a group supporting law enforcement in Philadelphia. There were 29 law officers who had been wounded in the line of duty, including East Lansdowne native Josh Hartnett, who was shot point-blank in an ambush by a man who fired into the window of his police cruiser.
You might say it was anything but a 'routine' night.
Just like the calls these officers answer every day.
You can read our editorial here.
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