Trooper continues recovery from Friday motorcycle crash

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A New York State Trooper continues his recovery after his motorcycle was struck by a vehicle in Niagara County on Friday afternoon.

Trooper James O'Callaghan says Sgt. Salvatore Mattina has undergone several surgeries already, but more are still to come.

"It's not a minor surgery. Every time he goes in for these surgeries, it's life or death, and they do them one at a time," said O'Callaghan in an interview with WBEN on Tuesday. "So every time the family, they say goodbye to him as he goes into surgery, he may not come out."

Sgt. Mattina is looking at a few more surgeries and a recovery, and hopefully will be out of Erie County Medical Center within the month. However, it's still going to be a long road ahead of him.

"He's going to have to be in a wheelchair for a considerable amount of time," O'Callaghan added.

O'Callaghan is planning on visiting Mattina at the hospital on Tuesday.

"The one thing that I would say is, if you know Sgt. Mattina, he's got that smile, that air to him, or like he walks into a room and you naturally smile back, because he's a great guy," O'Callaghan said. "He's a funny guy, and someone you can easily attach yourself to, being like, 'I like that guy.' He's a fun guy to be with, and that carries with him on that motorcycle patrol."

Mattina was seriously injured when O'Callaghan says a woman failed to yield the right of way to him as he was conducting a dry run for the Mercy Flight Dice Run on Friday afternoon.

The investigation into the crash remains ongoing.