National Guard vet in coma after head-on crash with suspected drunk driver day after Christmas: ‘A gentle giant’

A former 18-year veteran of the National Guard was placed in a medically induced coma following a horrific head-on crash by a suspected drunk driver on Long Island, according cops and a report.

Nelson Gonzalez, 63, was driving home from work the day after Christmas when a 2025 Mazda CX-7 smashed into his Toyota Tacoma as he was making a left turn on Express Drive South in Melville around 10 p.m. Suffolk County police said.

The driver of the Mazda, 59-year-old John Ankelman, was arrested at the scene and charged with driving while intoxicated, according to police.

Gonzalez, who was critically injured, was taken to Plainview Hospital and later transferred to North Shore Community Hospital in Manhasset, where he is in a medically induced coma, the department said.

“He had died on the scene and the doctors revived him,” his sister-in-law, Mitsa Gonzalez, told News12 Long Island Tuesday. “That’s what the doctors told us.

“He’s in a medically induced coma because he was swelling of the brain and they had to drill a hole to get that swelling down,” she said.

The family revealed that Gonzalez, a security guard, had also served in the National Guard for nearly two decades.

“Please say some healing prayers for my friend Nelson,” a friend of the injured man posted on Instagram. “He was the security guard at our old office building and was hit head on by a drunk driver on his way home from work last Friday night.

“Nelson has a heart of gold and is simply the kindest human being,” the post said. “A gentle giant.”

Ankelman was arraigned on drunk driving charges in Suffolk County court on Saturday.

He was released without bail pending a return court appearance, records show.