'Just incredible': Wounded CPD Officer Danny Golden released from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More than a month after Chicago Police Officer Danny Golden was shot and left paralyzed after trying to break up a bar fight in Beverly, he was released from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab on Friday.
Golden, who wheeled himself out, smiled as he was welcomed by friends, family and supporters. Fellow police officers wore "Golden" t-shirts as bagpipes played.
"It's just incredible," said Pat Golden, Danny's father. "It's just incredible. I've never seen this before in my life and our family is just truly humbled."
Fellow wounded officer Carlos Yanez Jr. was in the crowd of supporters. Golden and Yanez shared an emotional embrace as crowds cheered.
Yanez was wounded in the Aug. 7, 2021, shooting in West Englewood that killed his partner, Officer Ella French.
When Golden got into his car, he enjoyed a McFlurry.
Supporters lined the streets in Bridgeport, Canaryville, Beverly, and Mount Greenwood to cheer him on.
A police escort ushered Golden along the route from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Streeterville from Lake Shore Drive to the Dan Ryan Expressway, with a detour through Bridgeport and Canaryville on his way home to the Beverly/Mount Greenwood area.
Supporters lined the streets for 14 miles to solute Golden.
Friends and neighbors gathered Thursday night at Munroe Park in West Beverly, many of them writing messages of support for Golden and his family.
Ald. Matt O'Shea's office in the 19th Ward also sold t-shirts and yard signs to display when Golden arrives home.
All the money from those signs and shirts will go to the Golden family to help with medical bills.
"The Golden family has served our country in the military, they've served our city in the Police Department, and we want to be there for them just like they've been there for us," said Illinois State Sen. Bill Cunningham.
"This is not gonna keep him down," Golden's father said. "He's determined to live his life to the fullest and keep on pushing."
Golden was released from the hospital a few days after he was shot in Beverly last month, and he has spent the past month undergoing physical therapy at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.
His next goal is to walk down the aisle at his wedding in October of 2023.
Chicago police said they have yet to make any arrests in Golden's case.
