Social Media Viral: North Carolina Police Officer Comforts Autistic Boy After Running Away From School
Police officers are known for being tough and courageous for running after bad guys and enforcing the law. But one cop melted the hearts of thousands of netizens after dealing with a situation that did not necessarily involve violating the rules. In a report by Yahoo! News, a photo showing a North Carolina police officer and a high school student with autism went viral on social media on Friday.
The picture was shared by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's official Facebook page and it came along with a caption saying that Officer Tim Purdy was dispatched to a situation involving the young boy who apparently ran away from school.
The school officials believed that he was suicidal, and so required immediate help to keep him away from danger. Aside from that, because of the young boy's neuro-developmental disorder, he is said to have displayed a violent behavior in the past.
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Purdy responded to the call and immediately made his way to the location of where the student was. Keeping in mind the student's situation, Purdy came up to the boy with a different approach and that is to show compassion.
He sat across him on the ground with legs stretched out in an effort to establish trust and relationship with him even in that short period. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department shared that Purdy even managed to let the teenager laugh while they were talking things through.
Daily Mail wrote that because of Purdy's calm and reassuring approach, the student was able to receive the right he needed instead of taking the situation to a wrong turn. This truly goes to show that being a policeman is more than just catching criminals and making sure that everyone is safe.
They also go the extra mile and show their soft sides in order to help someone like the high school kid with autism. As written in the post: "Sometimes taking those extra little steps makes the biggest difference in someone's life." The post has garnered over 200,000 shares already since it was posted.
