CHICAGO — A fundraiser with a little Irish flair took place on the North Side of Chicago Sunday, aiming to benefit a police officer on the mend after attempting to be a good Samaritan off the clock several months ago.

That officer’s name is Danny Golden, who was off-duty on July 9 when he tried to intervene and break up a bar fight near West 104th Street and Western Avenue on the city’s South Side.

Golden was trying to de-escalate the situation when someone in the group opened fire, a bullet striking his spine in the process, and paralyzing Golden from the waist down.

“I told Dan that night that he ran into three bad guys,” said Pat Golden, Danny’s father. “But since then he’s run into millions of unbelievably nice people.”


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Indeed, the road to recovery has been tough thus far, but support has been overwhelming for Golden and his family.

“We are getting letters from Ireland,” Pat Golden said. “We had letters from the O’Brien’s in Dublin sending mass intentions and get wells, it’s amazing.”

Three men have been charged in relation to the shooting of Golden, with all three having pled not guilty.


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A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for medical expenses as Golden works through recovery. The page has seen nearly $1.5 million in donations so far.

“I’ve never met such an upbeat guy in my entire life,” said Lyons Police Chief Tom Herion, who helped organize the fundraiser Sunday. “… If anybody is going to succeed, its going to be Danny Golden. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

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