Catching Up with Cpl. Dan Hahn: Positive Attitude is Everything

Each day when Cpl. Dan Hahn wakes up, usually in pain, he makes a conscious decision to get through the day with an upbeat attitude. 

"Having a positive attitude is a decision to make," he said. "You can choose to be down."

Aiding the injured Cranberry police officer on his long path to recovery is his wife, Fritz Hahn. Hahn credits her with keeping him strong.

"I have her to keep me straight," he said. "If I have a bad day, she's always upbeat."

Hahn was seriously injured five months ago after falling from a highway overpass following a high-speed car chase that began in Sewickley Hills and ended on Interstate 79 in Jackson Township.

The driver of the car jumped from an overpass in an effort to elude police from multiple departments. Hahn followed. The driver died from his injuries the next day. Hahn was flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital, where he spent three weeks in a coma.

His injuries included a broken back, a spinal cord injury, injuries to his shoulder, sternum, and multiple other fractures. In March, he began physical therapy at the HealthSouth Harmarville Rehabilitation Hospital. Within months, he progressed from barely being able to move his body to taking steps with a walker and climbing the stairs.

In June,.

On Saturday, Cranberry Patch caught up with the officer -- who continues rehabilitation -- and his wife at the event at the Iceoplex in Southpointe. The fundraiser benefited Hahn and Clairton , who was critically injured after being shot during an April home-invasion call.

In their chat with Patch, the Hahns detailed day-to-day life now, their plans for the future and some possible vacation destinations.

Unchanged is Hahn's desire to return to the Cranberry police force, a goal he set right after his injury.

"There's no hoping about it," he said. "It's going to happen."

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