Winslow in slow recovery
Published 8:33 pm Saturday, June 23, 2012
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Members of Suffolk recreational motorcycle group Shadowed Few organized a fundraiser for injured police officer James Winslow, at Madigan’s Restaurant Saturday.
The parents of a Suffolk police officer who was seriously injured in the line of duty last month say his recovery is progressing.
“For what he’s been through, he’s now a long way (on the road to recovery), that’s for sure,” Johnnie Winslow said at a Saturday fundraiser for his son, James Winslow.
“He’s getting better every day,” said James Winslow’s mother, Vicki Winslow.
Many at the fundraiser at Madigan’s Restaurant, organized by recreational motorcycle group Shadowed Few, had hoped for an appearance by the injured officer.
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During a fundraiser for injured Suffolk police officer James Winslow at Madigan’s Restuarant Saturday, Alyssa Marcaste, 11, Michael Ireland, 10, Kathryn Ireland, 11, and Destiny Irelane, 5, wash a Suffolk Fire and Rescue truck.
But although his recovery is progressing, he was not up to the public appearance.
James Winslow endured a violent assault after a traffic stop on Nansemond Parkway on May 19.
Portsmouth’s Joe Louis Staton, 43, is charged with numerous felonies, including malicious wounding of a police officer, in connection with the attack.
Vicki Winslow paid tribute to the Suffolk community for its strong support. “It has been phenomenal,” she said.
“The community support and the police support — just everything in general — it has been an amazing thing. It means a whole lot to us as a family.”
The Winslows declined to comment publicly on their son’s injuries or on the specifics of his recovery.
The atmosphere at the event at Madigan’s was warm and supportive, with a bake sale, raffles, cornhole, and young folks taking care of the car and motorcycle wash out front.
“We know he’s got a long road to recovery,” Shadowed Few President James Salmon said. “There are a lot of expenses … and we thought we needed to come together as friends of his to do something.”
With the strong support he is getting from family and friends, along with his faith, the police officer has “a good chance of recovery,” according to Salmon.
When Suffolk Fire and Rescue’s Engine 1 appeared out front just after 1 p.m., the scope of the car and motorcycle wash was instantly widened.
“We’re not going to get them to wash the whole thing; they’re just going to wash the bottom half of it,” Lt. Eric Thrush said as children set to work cleaning the engine.
He explained the close ties between all men and women working in emergency services.
“We’re tied together … we need them (the police) for when somebody gets assaulted and we need them for our protection, and for wrecks, they need us to get the people out of the cars for them,” he said.
At least one more fundraiser for James Winslow is planned — a golf tournament at Suffolk Golf Course on July 13, organized by the Suffolk Police Department and Suffolk Police Officers’ Association.