Disabled Veteran Sergeant of Law Enforcement...11 surgeries

11 surgeries later coupled with five years of my life spent healing and now our way of life will never be the same.

Hello, my name is Tim Hollister-Wright. My husband is Steven Hollister-Wright, and we live in a very small community called Mondovi, WI, which is located in west-central WI in Buffalo County. This is about 25 minutes south of Eau Claire.

I got the motivation to start my law enforcement career after my Grandpa suffered a massive heart attack on Oct. 16th, 1999. It was a very difficult time to go through, but a female Eau Claire County deputy responded and helped our family out so much. She was the first on the scene, and from that point forward, I knew I was destined to be a first responder and help people.

I graduated from Mondovi High School in 2003 and obtained a part-time position with the Mondovi Police Dept. on 9-11-2003 while I went to Chippewa Valley Technical College for a degree in criminal justice. I received academic scholarships and was accepted into the criminal justice law enforcement program. During college, I applied to the advanced track program and was accepted into the advanced track program to graduate early while committing to a longer day for training. I graduated from the program in May of 2005.

During my schooling, I was asked by my firearms instructor to join the Elk Mound Police Department. My firearms instructor was also a captain for the Elk Mound PD. I worked for the EMPD while working for the Mondovi Police Dept. During this time, I was asked to work for the Strum Police Department, and I accepted a part-time position with them.

In the fall of 2005, I applied for a position with the Buffalo County Sheriff's Office as a communications and corrections officer. I obtained the job and worked as a full-time communications/corrections officer from 2005 to 2008. I ended up resigning from Elk Mound and Strum to concentrate on my full-time job with Buffalo County. While working for Buffalo County, I maintained part-time employment with Mondovi PD. While I was with the Sheriff's Office, I started and maintained the first-ever field training program in the dispatch/jail. I ended up being promoted to the first field training officer in Buffalo County. I was later promoted to Deputy Sheriff and worked from 2008 to 2015.

In 2014 I was asked by the Chippewa Valley Technical College if I would be interested in teaching new recruits at the college. I gladly accepted the officer and specialized in the area emergency vehicle operations but I also taught other classes since I was a general instructor as well.

I had been a driver for the Mondovi Area Ambulance Service for a number years.

I saw an opportunity in 2015 to go back to my hometown in Mondovi, so I applied for their officer position. I was offered the position, and I accepted. A couple of months later, I was promoted to Sergeant.

In 2020, I was assisting the Mondovi Ambulance Service while on duty for MPD and training a new officer. While assisting EMS, I tore my ACL. This caused me to no longer be able to work for the college or ambulance service. This resulted in numerous surgeries and I was put on and off light duty numerous times. In 2022, I had a dump truck pull out in front of me. The driver of the dump truck was ticketed, and I went by ambulance to the emergency room. I suffered multiple injuries from the crash. In December of 2022, I was placed on a "preferential rehire list" by the Mondovi city manager. That ended all benefits effective 1-1-2023. The city learned one benefit they could not end was them paying my portion of the WI retirement system. This was and is a state law. The city can and did require me to pay my portion back to the city, which I did up until 1-1-2023.

Due to the severity of my injuries and being unable to return to law enforcement or any other carreer or due to my work injuries. I ended up resigning in March of 2025 due to injuries I sustained while working for MPD. This was a necessary step to proceed with my WI retirement disability application since I had reached the end of healing. To this day, the city of Mondovi chooses not to separate from me based on recommendations from the work comp. case manager. This prevents me from continuing my disability retirement application from moving forward. This means that I have no income until this gets resolved. My husband has been doing double duty and working overtime to make ends meet. We have had to tap into savings to make our monthly payments. This also includes selling my boat and truck and downsizing to one vehicle to save money.

We are fundraising to cover our living expenses and medical bills until my disability retirement application is approved.

During my tenure in Buffalo County and the City of Mondovi, I received awards for two life-saving events. Both people are still alive today and worked at Marten Transport which was also where my Grandpa worked back in the day.

Even though I am unable to work again due to my injuries, I believe I made an impact on this earth and the families I've affected, appreciate what I did for them.

I will forever be grateful and thankful for my opportunity to protect and serve from 2003 to 2023.

Here is a link of the latest city council meeting from my previous employer. It's definitely worth a listen and will give you more of an understanding of our situation. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YOn_Q8TuieSfbHvBCLY_EH_zwpJkMuj4/view?usp=drivesdk

Thank you for listening to my story and any help is greatly appreciated!