Trooper recovering after roadside incident

“I just looked to the left and that’s when I saw this semi coming at me, and there’s nothing I could do. It’s kind of like, ‘well this is it I guess,’” said Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputy and Marysville High School graduate Nickolas Golden, recalling the Dec. 5, 2024 accident where he was struck by a semi-truck.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 5, Golden responded to multiple vehicular crashes in the I-71 South area.

“It was a mess,” he said.

After conducting several crash investigations, he responded to a hit-skip accident along U.S. 36 and Route 37 at 4 a.m.

“When I got there I found out that (the driver) had actually initially crashed into the median, and when he pulled over to the right side of the road he was struck by another vehicle that left the scene,” Golden said.

That driver was 64-year-old Patrick O’Neal, who would also end up sustaining injuries in the accident.

Golden said he began gathering basic information when a sheriff’s office trainee showed up to take over the crash for him.

“I was looking over at the median, and right as the semi started to jack-knife I was standing next to (the trainee’s) field training officer, and the field training officer had saw it and started to get out of the way and yell at the same time,” Golden said. “Right before it hit me I blacked out, because I still have the picture of it sliding at me in my mind. Everything goes black right when it gets to me and then I woke up on the side of the road in a lot of pain.”

He said that the field training officer and the trainee began checking on him and O’Neal, along with Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Garloch and the Delaware County medics responding to the scene.

“I credit them with saving my life, as well as all the people down at (Grant Medical Center),” Golden said. “It was terrifying. I remember asking if I was out of the woods a lot in the medic just cause I didn’t know, I couldn’t see.”

Both Golden and O’Neal were taken to Grant Medical Center with serious injuries.

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Above is an X-ray of Golden’s broken leg after the accident, which shows his Tibia-Fibula bone that exited through his shin. Golden said that he is about halfway through rehab at Ohio State Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital and that he is able to walk short distances in a walking boot.

(Photo submitted)

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Golden said that he had three surgeries, totaling about 16 hours of procedure time.

“So I had my (tibia-fibula) break (which) was one of my bones coming through my shin, so it was sticking out, and my pelvic ring was broken and I had some soft tissue issues on top of that where I was struck,” Golden said. “I have a titanium rod in my leg that will be there forever, as long as I know, with some screws, and then I had to have a skin graft transplant from my thigh to my pelvic area where it had been ripped open.”

Golden spent 36 total days in the hospital; 21 days at Grant Medical Center and 15 days at Ohio State. He returned home Jan. 9.

“I’m doing pretty okay right now, I’m starting to walk short distances, I can do that a little bit without assistance, but I still have a walking boot on, letting my leg heal,” Golden said. “The last month has been a challenge, but it’s rewarding and I kind of like the challenge a little bit.”

He said a lot of his rehab has been at The Ohio State University’s Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital, which has been focused on his balance and strength. Golden said he is about halfway through the rehab process.

He said he has been in touch with Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Adrian Wilson, who was struck in an accident similar to Golden’s in February of 2023.

“So I’ve had a great support system of people to go through it with,” Golden said.

He said that he has been staying with family while he goes through the recovery process.

“It’s been nice to just be able to relax,” Golden said. “It’s been nice to have home-cooked meals.”

Golden, who is 27-years-old, graduated from Marysville High School in the class of 2015 and from Bowling Green in the class of 2019. He is the fourth generation of law enforcement in his family, which is the main reason he pursued a career in the field.

Golden’s great-grandfather was the police chief of Plain City, his grandfather was police chief of Marysville, he has two uncles in local law enforcement and his sister and brother-in-law are Columbus Police officers.

“It’s kind of what we do,” he said.

Golden said that family and faith has helped him get through the hard times.

“My larger family with Delaware County and the law enforcement community in general and even the residents of Delaware County have been incredibly generous to us,” Golden said. “Just the outpouring of support and love, that’s enough motivation to keep going through the day.”