TROY, Ohio — A photo of a grieving man being transported to his mother by a police officer has gone viral after the man shared online how the officer “gave him hope” through his love, care and generosity.
Mark Ross wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he received a call at 3 a.m. that his little sister had been killed in a car accident.
Being in Indiana at the time, he convinced a friend to drive him to Detroit, Michigan to be with this mother. But his friend had a suspended license and Ross had a misdemeanor arrest warrant, so they knew they were taking a risk by being on the road.
The two were indeed pulled over by highway patrol in Ohio as they were speeding out of their hurry to get to Detroit.
Police arrested Ross’ friend and called the county police department that had issued the warrant for Ross’ arrest, but they declined to come for him because of the distance.
That’s when Ross told Sgt. David Robison about the death of his sister. He was amazed by the officer’s compassion for him.
“I explained to the officer that my sister had died and that I needed to get to my mother asap,” Ross recounted. “I broke down crying and he saw the sincerity in my cry.”
He offered to personally drive him to Detroit, which was still another 100 miles away.
“It was just so overwhelming,” Ross told Inside Edition on Monday. “They were trying to help us.”
Robison drove Ross to Detroit and left him at a coffee shop, where his cousin came to meet him. But as Ross was about to get out of the patrol vehicle, Robison asked if he could pray for him and his family.
“It was so overwhelming, it kind of took me away from my own reality,” Ross recalled.
The family, which has expressed gratitude for Robison’s act of kindness, has invited the officer to the funeral. He reportedly has accepted the invite.
“Everybody knows how much I dislike cops, but I am truly grateful for this guy,” Ross wrote on Facebook. “He gave me hope.”
As of press time, the post has been shared over 127,000 times.
As previously reported, earlier this year, a police officer was likewise applauded when he had compassion on a drug addicted man who had been living in a tent.
Robert Morris of South Carolina had called the Greenville County Sheriff’s Department to express gratitude months after the night Deputy Matt Holman found him walking the streets alone and soaking wet.
“He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life,” Morris stated.
Holman learned in talking with Morris that he had lost his mother and father, as well as his sister, and that he became addicted to drugs and alcohol after his sister died. The situation harmed his relationship with his two remaining siblings.
When he asked Morris if he needed anything, Morris replied that he would like a Bible. Holman ended up giving the man his own personal Bible out of the trunk of his car. The deputy also bought Morris a meal before going on his way.
Six months later, Holman received a call from Morris, who wanted to say thank you and let him know how much his life had changed since that night.
“He said, ‘Officer, you don’t understand. Because of what you’d done, I checked myself back into mental health, I was able to get regulated with my medication [and] I reconciled my relationship with my brother [and] my sister,” Holman remembered in a video produced by the sheriff’s department, adding that Morris is also no longer homeless.
