Cops usually get a bad reputation, but we know there are cops who go above and beyond to help us in times of trouble. This story is about one of them.
Kori Dobson and her parents found themselves stranded at a Boston train station in the middle of winter, after Kori underwent brain surgery.
Kori suffered from chiari malformation – a neurological defect, in which the bone that closes the back of the skull is smaller than usual. As a result, density is created in the tonsil and cerebellar area (also known as the cerebellum). This density can cause blockage in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which links the brain and spinal cord.
Just four days after the complicated surgery, Kori was already on her way home from New York to Portland, Maine.
Unfortunately, her New York train was late, and they missed their Boston connection by a few minutes.
It was midnight and the weather was freezing, so Kori’s parents walked up to a police officer who was nearby to ask if there was a place to store their luggage while they were looking for a warm place to wait.
But what he offered instead left them amazed.
“Because of the recent inclement weather and train cancellations, our Amtrak train trip back from the Presbyterian Hospital in New York was longer than expected, which caused us to arrive in Boston too late to get on the next train,” Kori wrote in a Facebook post.
“Unfortunately, this train wasn’t leaving the station for another 2 two and a half hours. The train station was very cold, with no place to leave our luggage, and no option for comfortable seating/support for my neck.”
Desperately, Kori’s mother walked up to two police officers and asked if there was a place where they could store their luggage at the train station.
Their plan was to take a taxi to a warmer place and wait there until the next train arrives.
“The officers quickly assured Mom that they would help us by contacting their captain to see what he could do. Shortly after, the Boston police captain came to us and asked us to follow him,”, Kori explained. The commander was Officer Kelly McCormick, who led the family in a civilian commercial vehicle and said, “Ok guys, come on. We are going for a short walk.”
At first the family thought he would take them for a ride just so they could sit in a warm and cozy place, and they were grateful for his kind-heartedness. But very soon they realized that he was traveling north.
“Mom asked where we were going, and he laughed and said he was kidnapping us and that it was perfectly legal. We suddenly realized he was taking us all the way to Portland, back to our car..”, Kori said.
“He said there was no way in the world that he would let me sit in the cold after the surgery I went through and that he was happy to drive us.”
The family was amazed and very moved with officer McCormick’s gesture, but they also found that it wasn’t uncommon for the kind-hearted cop.
They told stories to each other, and the family learned he was one of the commanders in charge during the Boston Marathon attack.
Another Boston police chief, Officer William Gross, said he wasn’t surprised by Officer McCormick’s kindness. He said it just shows what kind of a person he is.
“It’s not a one-time thing for Officer McCormick. He always gives. He is an open person who always likes to give and help.”
“He has a good soul. We have commanders in each of the 11 districts of the city who do above and beyond for others”, he said.
Kori and her family agree.
“He is a humble, inspirational man with a huge heart”, Kori said.
“Thank you to Officer Kelly McCormick, for God to bless and care for you as you bless and care for so many other people.”
Help us share the story as a gratitude to Officer Cormick and the heartfelt act he did