KY sheriff's deputy injured in drunk driving crash ready to get back to work

Aug 16, 2023

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Looking back at the pictures, the smiles were big. So, too, was the reason Hardin County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Landon took his family to Gatlinburg.

"This was celebrating a year of my daughter being in remission from leukemia. She stopped taking chemo treatments a year ago," Landon told WLKY Friday.

But on their drive back last month, when they were just 20 minutes from home, they were hit by a suspected drunk driver in Green County. Police say, Daniel Sidebottom, 22, was nearly three times the legal limit.

"I just remember headlights being eye level," he said.

"I could see my father move a little bit, my mother never moved," wife April Landon said.

Sandy Durfee, known as Nana to her granddaughters, died. Her husband, Ron, who had multiple broken bones and was in and out of consciousness, was flown to the hospital. So, too, were Deputy Landon and Lana, 9, the little girl who had just beaten cancer.

She had to undergo multiple surgeries, as did her dad. Lana's twin, Aria, and their mother, April, suffered less serious injuries but were hospitalized.

Despite those surgeries, a titanium rod in his femur, and not being able to put any pressure on his right foot, where his Achilles tendon had been torn off, Landon is hopeful to get back to his job at the courthouse, where he works security and serves as a bailiff.

Sheriff John Ward, who met with Landon Friday at the office, said he is eager to have him back.

Landon knows his recovery could take months but told WLKY, "I miss people I work with, I miss the job itself, actually. I liked it a lot."

April Landon is optimistic her husband will get back to work and hopeful Sidebottom, who currently has a $2 million bond on murder and other charges, will stay behind bars.

"I'm still furious because it's senseless. I mean, we live in a time where there is absolutely no excuse to drive drunk or under the influence. You can call someone, get an Uber, you cannot drive," she said.

Donations to Deputy Landon and his family can be made at any Hardin County WesBanco branch. Meanwhile, a memorial fund has been set up in the name of Sandra Durfee at Lincoln National Bank in Hodgenville.