Beyond Protecting And Serving: Police Help 87-Year-Old Woman Get To Sick Son

With all of the negative press surrounding police departments nationwide, there is a danger of forgetting the good these officers do everyday. KUTV reported on Helen “Skeeter” Smith, an 87 year-old woman who was rushed by police escort across counties to see her sick son at a hospital.

After receiving a call that her son had fallen ill, she headed from southern Nevada Friday via I-15 to embark on a 350-mile trip to Ogden. In central Utah, Smith told KUTV she “buzzed past” a Utah state trooper, who naturally pulled her over. However, the story begins after he let her off with a warning. “He was all nice,” said Helen. “Oh yeah, he was just doing his job.”

What happened next exceeded even the type of random acts of kindness we hoped to hear about during the holiday season, or year around. The story from KUTV:

Then Helen had perhaps the best accident she could have hoped for; instead of pulling forward to ease onto the interstate, she put her car in reverse and hit Trooper Jeff Jones’ patrol car.

“I put a little dent in his car,” she said. She also told Trooper Jones the reason why she was making the trip.

But that little dent convinced the trooper it wasn’t safe for her to continue her journey, so he had her car moved to a secure location, and gave her a ride from Fillmore to Juab County.

There, he handed Helen off to Trooper Jared Jensen, who drove her to Utah County.

Jensen handed her off to Trooper Chris Bishop, who drove her to Salt Lake County.

There, Trooper Andrew Pollard met her in Draper, and drove Helen all the way to Ogden Regional Medical Center.

“She was very excited to tell me about her dogs, her cat, and her hometown,” said Pollard, who is new to the Utah Highway Patrol. “To hold her hand walking into the hospital was very, very rewarding.”

After Helen saw how busy the freeway is on a Friday night, she was grateful to the chauffeurs.

“I ended up taking four patrol cars,” she said. “Four good-lookin’ patrol boys brought me.”

Helen made it to the hospital to see her son.  He is not doing well, but treatment is continuing; and a mother with undying love for her son said he’s also been able to express his love.

Now that’s protecting and serving the public and, despite the perpetual focus on the exception, Americans widely see the police as their community’s protector. In a recent examination of public opinion, PPD found that the public gives police officers high marks for the difficult job they do everyday. In this case, they took away valuable time from doing that job to help someone in need.