Mich. Police Support Injured Officer's 7-Year-Old Son at Hockey Game

Dozens of Warren police officers and dispatchers were on hand at an area hockey game to support the 7-year-old son of a Warren officer who was left paralyzed after a fall during a hunting trip.

Nick Kott, who has been with the department for 13 years, remains hospitalized at the University of Michigan Hospital following his injury, according to a department spokesman.

Kott and his wife, Holli, and son Jack are all passionate about hockey. That’s why more than 40 department employees — on their own time — were at the Mount Clemens Ice Arena on Friday night to cheer young Jack during his game against the Trenton Trojans.

“It is often said that law enforcement is a family,” police Lt. John Gajewski said in a news release.

“(Friday night), the men and women of the Warren Police Department showed what family means to us. This is what we do, this is who we are, and this is what we stand for. We come together to support each other when one of us is down and hurting.”

Kott has played, coached and refereed hockey teams throughout his life, and his son plays hockey on the Lakeland Hawks Hockey Team.

The department spokesperson said, to the Kott family, “hockey is more than a sport,” adding “it is a passion, a bond, and a tradition.”

Cheered on by the crowd, the Lakeland Hawks left the arena with a victory, Gajewski said.

While the crowd was clapping and hollering in ice arena, it remained quiet miles away inside of the hospital where Kott continues to recuperate.

Kott was off duty hunting with his dad on their property in Gladwin on Nov. 16 when he slipped and fell out of a tree blind. When he did not return to his cabin at the expected time, his father walked to the area his son said he would be and found him conscious and motionless on the ground where he had been for more than an hour.

He was rushed to Midland Hospital, then airlifted to University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor where he is listed in in critical condition in Neuro-ICU.

According to his wife, Holli, Kott suffered a serious neck injury and has been placed on a ventilator. He has no feeling from his neck down, she said. The doctors have told her it is too early to determine if he will regain movement of his limbs.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the Kott family at gofundme.com/f/help-nick-holli-and-jack-with-nicks-recovery. Or checks can be made payable to the Warren Police & Fire Benevolent Association at the Warren Police Department, 29900 S. Civic Center Blvd, Warren MI, 48093, ATTN: Police Administration.

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