A Nassau County Police Highway Patrol officer who was critically injured in an off-duty motorcycle crash last month was released from Stony Brook University Hospital to much fanfare on Thursday.

Officer Michael Hyland was escorting a funeral procession in Lindenhurst on Oct. 6 when his motorcycle collided with a Toyota Tundra on North Wellwood Avenue and Jerome Street. He sustained severe injuries and was on life support for eight days after the crash.

"When I say he was broken head to toe, I am being extremely literal," says Dr. James Vosswinkel, a trauma specialist at Stony Brook University Hospital. "It's really head to shin. Mike got hit so hard not only — and I can read the list of injuries briefly — bruises to his brain, blood around his brain, he separated his spine from his skull. They call that almost an internal decapitation, which if it was worse, it would have been fatal."

One month after his injury, Hyland was greeted with applause and cheers as he was wheeled out of the hospital. He is now on his way to a rehabilitation center to continue his recovery.