A Colorado Department of Transportation worker who was hit by a vehicle in Pagosa Springs last week died Sunday, according to family.
Nolan Olson, 64, was filling potholes Feb. 2 on U.S. Highway 160 near mile marker 140 when he was hit by a passing car, suffering severe injuries to his legs and irreversible brain damage.
Olson, who had worked for CDOT for 14 years, was taken to Pagosa Springs Medical Center before being flown to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood for further care.
On Sunday, Olson’s stepdaughter, Tonya Hamilton, wrote in a journal entry on the website CaringBridge that Olson had died.
“Rest in Peace, Nolan ... we’ll take it from here ...” Hamilton wrote.
The Pagosa Sun in a previous report identified the driver of the car that struck Olson as 83-year-old Jerry Modisette of Pagosa Springs, who was cited with careless driving causing bodily injury.
The newspaper reported that around 11:30 a.m. Feb. 2, two CDOT workers parked a truck on the south side of Highway 160. One employee was in the acceleration lane filling potholes, according to a news release from Pagosa Springs Manager Andrea Phillips.
Modisette, heading eastbound on Highway 160, drifted into the acceleration lane, hitting Olson with the right front bumper of his vehicle, The Pagosa Sun reported.
“We would like to send a message of love to all those friends out there, and even folks that didn’t know him, that have been praying for him,” Hamilton wrote in a previous journal entry.
“Those thoughts and prayers, we believe, helped Nolan move from this world to the next ... wherever and whatever that looks like for Nolan, he is not in pain; he is not suffering.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
