An Illinois woman was stunned when a police officer who pulled her over just days after her father’s death surprised her with an act of kindness.
“I’m so blessed he was the one who pulled me over that day,” Gina Headen told KMOV of Deputy Dan Hill, who pulled her over for speeding and gave her a warning.
“While I sat and waited I was reminiscing about my dad like always lately,” Headen wrote in a Facebook post. “The officer returned to my car and said its your lucky day, we were born on the same day and year, slow down and have a good day. I smiled and said thank you. He walked away and I broke down and started crying. Thinking he was back in his car. He surprised me and tapped on my window asking if I was ok.
“I told him I was sad, I just lost my dad. He said take a minute and breath. He talked to me a minute then helped me back into traffic.”
A short time later, Headen received a card in the mail sent by Hill.
Headen shared her story on Facebook to shine a light on Hill’s kind gesture — with the post being shared more than 26,000 times.
“I just thought people need to know good police officers out there who care for their community,” Headen told KMOV.
Hill said he and his colleagues do similar gestures on a regular basis, but it never gets the attention that his act of kindness toward Headen did, reported KMOV.
“We are not just here to send people to jail [and to] write tickets,” Hill told KMOV. “We help when we can.”
Sources: KMOV, Gina Penny-Headen via Facebook / Photo credit: Daily Mail