Fraternal Order of Police asking community to help hospitalized officer

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - A Grand Junction police officer is still in the hospital, nearly two months after a major medical emergency.

Officer Isaac Gallegos went to St. Mary’s Hospital on April, 15 for health issues related to diabetes. Once there though, his health situation only worsened.

Gallegos suffered a stroke and required emergency brain surgery. Not long after, a second brain surgery was needed due to a brain bleed.

On May 11, he was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Denver where he remains to this day.

“He’s regained some of his consciousness, but not he’s unable to speak still,” said Sgt. Stan Ancell, president of the Grand Junction Fraternal Order of Police. “He is is able to communicate, they can tell him to raise his hand, he’ll raise his hand, but very limited communication at this point.”

Gallegos joined the department in 2007. Growing up he wanted to me a musician, but after the 9/11 terrorist attack he decided he wanted to be a police officer to serve his community.

“Isaac is one of the best people that I know,” said Ancell. “He would give anything of himself to anybody in this community and I think that everybody that knows him wouldn’t know that.”

Ancell said Gallegos is a strong advocate for victims of domestic violence. He sits on the Domestic Violence Task Force and co-chaired this year’s Domestic Violence Conference in Grand Junction.

“He’s one of our family and in this job, we’re very close,” said Ancell. “So it’s been difficult for all of us. He’s young he’s not a very old officer. It’s just sad to see him going through this. He’s a single dad. He’s got three kids. So it’s been a pretty significant blow to all of us.”

To help Gallegos and his family cope with the financial strain his medical expenses are accruing, the Fraternal Order of Police is asking the community to help give back to an officer who serves his community.

“From our experience, this community is a very giving community and they care about their people,” said Ancell. “They care about first responders and so I think there’s a lot of people out there that probably know Isaac, personally, that maybe don’t know what’s going on with him.”

The F.O.P. set up a PayPal account to raise money for Gallegos. According to Ancell all of the money raised will go directly to Gallegos. There are no fees or taxes.

“I just want the community to know that he’s out there everyday supporting us,” said Ancell. “Twenty four-seven, graveyards, swing shift. He’s out there while we sleep, protecting our community and I hope that the community sees that and maybe can support him in his time of need as he’s out.”

If you’d like to donate to the GoFundMe, you can go here.