Nurses Jean Gonsch and Katie Patzkowsky said they don’t know personally Chicago police Officer Daniel Golden, left paralyzed from the waist down following a July 8 shooting in Chicago’s Beverly community, but they wanted to show their support for him and his family.
They were among several well-wishers signing a large card laid out at the Orland Park police station, which was to be delivered to Golden on his birthday Monday.
Both work at the University of Chicago Medicine’s center in Orland Park and work with Golden’s mother, Colleen, a nurse practitioner there.
“Colleen is a great person and talks about her family all the time,” said Patzkowsky, of Orland Park, who has worked with the officer’s mother for about three years.
Gonsch said she has worked with Colleen Golden for about a year at the Orland Park facility, at the northwest corner of La Grange Road and 143rd Street.
“She’s a wonderful woman,” Gonsch, of Orland Park, said.
Patti Maher, who works in records division at the Orland Park Police Department, said she does not know Golden but that “I just want to show my support” by adding her encouragement.
“Praying for a speedy recovery. Happy Birthday,” she wrote.
Sandy King, an Orland Park resident, said she had read about the shooting.
“It’s a terrible thing that happened,” she said Friday at the police station. “He has his whole life ahead of him.”
Several Orland Park police officers as well as firefighters from the Orland Fire Protection District had signed their names and written words of encouragement.
“We are praying for you! Stay strong!,” a group of firefighters wrote on the card.
Orland Park Trustee Cynthia Katsenes wrote that Orland Park has “adopted you via your relatives” who live in the village.
The Tom Hopkins Foundation, the family of which has been close to the Golden family for many years, had been selling T-shirts to support the officer. The foundation raises money to help families affected by cancer.
Also, restaurant chain Barraco’s, which has locations in Oak Lawn, Orland Park and Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community, is selling T-shirts through July 21.
There is also a GoFundMe page established for the family, which as of Saturday had raised nearly $1.3 million with a goal of $2 million.
The Tinley Park Police Department said it is also accepting donations for the family, and Palos Heights officials were encouraging that the public support the family, noting that one of its officers, Mike Day, is Golden’s uncle.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Golden joined the force in 2016. He was released Friday from Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and was being transferred to the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab to undergo therapy.
Three men have been charged and are being held without bond in connection with the shooting.
Golden, his younger brother and other family and friends had gone out July 8 after taking part in the eighth annual Papa Hops softball tournament to raise money for the foundation.
They were at Sean’s Rhino Bar & Grill, 10330 S. Western Ave., where there was an argument involving the three men charged as well as others in the bar that spilled out into the street, according to information prosecutors presented at the bond hearing.
Golden, who was off duty at the time, stepped in to try to break up the fight which continued into the area of West 104th Street and Artesian Avenue, according to prosecutors.
At one point the fight broke up and one of the men charged, Bryant Hayes, 22, of Chicago, allegedly fired several shots at people who were walking away from the scene, hitting Golden in the back, prosecutors said. Golden’s family said that the officer’s younger brother was hit in the leg by one of the bullets.
mnolan@tribpub.com
