(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- It has been a year since Chicago Police Officer Danny Golden was released from the hospital after being paralyzed by a gunshot while he was trying to break up a bar fight.
His fiancée tells WBBM Newsradio he is thriving.
"I have people come up to me all the time: 'How are you doing?' And I'm like, 'Honestly, better than ever,” says Casey Szaflarski, who will wed Golden on Oct. 7.
Golden was shot in the back and paralyzed last summer. He was off-duty at the time.
"I was obviously very nervous in the beginning,” Szaflarski says, “but from the day that he had gotten injured, he had a positive mindset that he wasn't going to let this change his life.
"He drives now. He loves to go fishing. He goes swimming all the time. He's learning how to scuba dive. So, things are looking up for him."
Golden has also been an inspiration to others who are paralyzed, she says.
“He would motivate people to work harder, do better and realize that ‘You’re not dead, you still have a beautiful life to live,’” Szaflarski said.
Three men were charged in connection with Golden's shooting.
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