Lt. Gerald “Jay” Richard describes his physical therapy room as “a torture chamber.” The pain he feels as he works on his shoulder three times a week is palpable. But it is better than it was a few months ago and definitely better than that night in 2007.

Richard, a South Kingstown police veteran of 18 years, remembers everything about the night his life changed: the flashing lights, the sound of metal crunching, the smell of the road and of the night. It will be a year next Monday, July 14, that he was struck by a drunken driver on Route 1. He was hurtled through the air, conscious until he hit the ground, in a ditch near the entrance to The Prout School.

Richard and Patrolman David Marler had pulled over a suspected drunken driver as part of Operation Blue RIPTIDE (Rhode Island Police Teaming for Impaired Driving Enforcement). As Richard stood outside the car and Marler sat inside, Roman A. Dodd, of South Kingstown, who was 22 at the time, rammed the back of the police cruiser. The car was pushed into Richard, who was thrown about 30 feet off the side of the road, injuring his left shoulder and knee.

His next memory is hearing then seeing a woman standing over him screaming. She was a passenger in the car that had been stopped by the patrol. He was frightened because no one came near him, making him think he must be badly injured. Because he could wiggle his toes, he knew he wasn’t paralyzed.

Less than two months earlier he had responded to the scene where 17-year-old Sylvia Bogusz was struck on Route 1 by another driver, Heidi Harrall, alleged to have been driving drunk. Though he is grateful that his injuries are less severe than those Bogusz suffered, Richard knows that his body will never be the same.

Eleven months later he still cannot return to work and that frustrates him.

But what frustrates him even more is that still the public is not getting the message about the danger of drinking and driving, despite stepped-up public service campaigns and police patrols. He does see more designated drivers, he says, but people are still driving while intoxicated. And one drunken driver has the power to harm many people.

Two weeks ago, Roman Dodd, after pleading guilty, was given a 10-year sentence with two years to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Richard says his physical therapist, Sarah Krajewski, has pushed him in his recovery to this point where he has seen great improvement, but still he has only partial range of motion in his shoulder. He desperately wants to return to work, but he can’t wash his hair or close bureau drawers, for instance, with his left hand. And because of the pain he has not slept through the night since he was struck 11 months ago.

Richard spends his days doing physical therapy and waiting for his next doctor’s appointment and his next shoulder surgery.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to get back to work,” he says. “That’s all I can do.”