Cortez on latest milestone in husband's recovery: 'Proud of this hero learning to use his hands again'

Cutting food is a simple task most people take for granted, but it means more for retired Houston police officer Ronny Cortez and his wife, Sheri. Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that Ronny Cortez, who was shot in the line of duty in 2017 and subsequently rendered a paraplegic, is able to use his hands again.

Ronny told the station that it was just a stuffed jalapeño, but that didn't stop Sheri from sharing the positive news on social media.

"Proud of this hero learning to use his hands again," Sheri tweeted. "Since his shooting, all he can feel is pins/needles in his hands, [because] of the stroke that followed. He can now cut his own food!"

Sheri called her spouse's latest recovery milestone a miracle. 

"It was for us because he wasn’t leaning on anything," she told KHOU. 

The station reported that Ronny has also learned how to hold himself up, an act that has earned him a comparison to a popular TV character from the 1980s. 

"He always finds a way," Sheri said, according to the station. "He’s a MacGyver."

Ronny participates in physical therapy to assist with his recovery, KHOU reported.

He expresses confidence he'll regain the ability to walk.

"I’m staying active, that way whenever God decides that I should walk again, that my body is going to be ready," Ronny told KHOU. "I believe one day I will."

Sheri is a believer as well. 

"I pray on him a lot," she told the station. "The ironic thing I don’t pray that he walks again. I pray that he’s happy. I pray that he doesn’t get upset with himself that he can’t be as strong as he once was."