FAMILY SPEAKS OUT Family Of Injured Trooper Speaks Out
Reported by: Kallie Cart
Web Producer: Kallie Cart
Reported: Jan. 2, 2013 7:02 PM EST
Updated: Jan. 2, 2013 7:12 PM EST
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
Sgt. Aaron Nichols is described as a man who loved being a police officer and as a family man with a wife and a young daughter. Several of his family members have been by his side since Monday, waiting and praying that he'll pull through.
"It's been a roller coaster of emotions, tired, long nights," Jake Nichols, Sgt. Nichols' brother, says.
Nichols is slowly improving from his head injury, in stable but guarded condition. His family says his recovery is going to take time but that he was more responsive on Wednesday.
Jake Nichols says he's also relieved that the alleged shoplifter who police say hit his brother with her car, causing his serious head injuries, is now under arrest.
"We're relieved and we're glad everything went well and there were no other incidents," Jake Nichols says.
But Nichols says he isn't surprised that his brother stepped in, on his day off, to help. He says Sgt. Nichols was always wanting to help.
"He always wanted to be a police officer since he was a kid, when we played he was always the cop," Nichols says.
But this family, personally knows how dangerous that job can be. They're from Clay County and are friends of the Workman family. When Trooper Eric Workman was clinging to life after being shot in Clay County in August, Sgt. Nichols never left Workman's side.
"Aaron stayed with him all the way through, he never left the family," Cpl. Jim Mitchell, the WV State Police chaplain, says. "He was always there, we tried to get him to leave, tried to get him to take some sleep, he would not do it. He wanted to be here every moment. He knew the family, he's from Clay County himself. He is just such a dedicated police officer, a trooper and just individual."
Sgt. Nichols' family calls him their rock, so they say now they're trying to be strong for him.
They're asking for continued prayer and his wife has asked for prayer for the suspect too.
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