People in Columbus, Georgia, are grieving the death of a beloved doctor who died in a car crash on Saturday, September 7.
Patients, friends, colleagues, and others are posting prayers and memories of Dr. Malcolm Goodchild on social media. Goodchild died Saturday after a car crash near exit 62 on Interstate 85 near Opelika. His death has an extra edge, as the doctor had been in a serious auto accident a few years before and had survived despite extensive injuries.
Goodchild’s car was struck this past Saturday by a driver going in the wrong direction.
Taylor Alexander posted on Facebook that Goodchild “was the light,” and that he was always telling jokes and singing songs. He made a special dish for her baby shower, Alexander said.
Another friend, Logan McMahill, called Goodchild “the funniest person” who was constantly cutting up and making people smile and laugh. Not only that, but he was kind. McMahill told a story about how Goodchild had emerged from the hospital room of a desperately sick patient and reminded everyone how short life was, and how important it was to tell your family and friends every day that you love them.
Former colleague Rachael Crain said Goodchild was her first doctor coworker in the operating room at Piedmont Columbus Hospital. She said Goodchild filled every room with wisdom and fun. Calling him a “down to earth man,” Crain said he loved his family, loved cars, and he stayed in touch with old coworkers even when they’d moved on to other jobs.
The man’s patients also paid tribute to the doctor. Commenting on an obituary in a local paper, Frances McDonald said he had performed “two major surgeries” and two more minor ones, and that she will “miss him and the talks we had.”
Goodchild was driving his Tesla on the northbound exit ramp, number 62, when a Toyota 4Runner hit his car while driving in the wrong direction on the ramp. The Tesla burst into flames, which firefighters were able to pull out. All occupants of both vehicles were quickly taken to the hospital, but Goodchild died of his injuries just a few hours later.
