Here’s a dose of good vibes for the week.
Meet Officer Brian Dougherty, who went viral because of how he treated a child after a car accident.
Car accidents are very traumatic.
Even a tiny bump on your side mirror or a scratch on the hood can be stressful. Imagine if it is a three-vehicle accident? The more people and vehicles are involved, the greater the trauma is.
Children involved in car accidents experience such traumas.
In the United States, there are eight (8) children killed and another 980 children injured in car accidents every day. It is that high! It is difficult for a child alone to witness or be involved in one. So, how do you deal with or treat a child who just came out of the scene of the accident?
But we can do what Officer Dougherty did and show some empathy.
The accident happened in Coral Springs, Florida, one afternoon. There was a three-vehicle accident that involved a child passenger. Luckily, there were no fatalities with only two individuals with minor injuries. The police officer came to the scene to help comfort the child.
This is not the prime duty as a police officer in time of an accident.
The police officers rush to a scene of an accident as reinforcements, such as managing the removal of the vehicles caught in the accident, documenting the incident and filing a report, and determining who is at fault.
Police officers are also needed at the scene of a car accident to make sure everyone is safe.
And this is what Officer Brian Dougherty did with this young boy.
Knowing that the situation may cause the child a lot of stress, he walked to the car when he arrived at the scene and asked the boy to come with him. He gave the child’s parents an assuring look that he came to help.
Janet Balestriero saw this and snapped a photo of this heartwarming moment.
According to her post, she saw Officer Dougherty take the child to the curb and sat there. Then, he let him play with the toy truck and asked him about his favorite animated movies. This may be a simple act, but we bet it meant a lot for the kid.
The post gathered a lot of online attention.
The post was shared more than 500 times and garnered 1,000 reactions and counting. This caught the attention of the Coral Springs Police Department, and they gave due credit to the police officer.
They said:
“So proud of our officers. Things like this happen often but are rarely reported on.”
This is also not the first time Officer Dougherty was given praise for acts of kindness.
He was also involved in their Shop with a Cop and Angel Tree program,
Joined the Olympic Torch Run as part of their fundraising event,
And was caught playing football with kids in the community.
On the other hand, Janet Balestrerio doesn’t want this simple act to be forgotten.
Luckily for Officer Dougherty, Janet is part of The Kindness Rock Project, wherein individuals can paint, share, and “gift” positivity to others through painting messages on a rock.
Janet made one for Officer Dougherty, and we can all agree he deserves this one.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
