After Finding Elderly Couple With Wheelchair Ramp in Disrepair, Officers Return to Rebuild It
When a group of California public safety officers came across an elderly couple whose wheelchair ramp was in decay, they took it up upon themselves to do the fixing.
Earlier this month, officers from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety responded to a call of an elderly man in need of medical assistance, where they came across the wheelchair ramp in need of repair.
“Several of our officers responded to a medical call at a residence in Sunnyvale,” a post from the department’s Facebook page reads. “After treating the patient, the officers discovered that his wheelchair ramp was in need of some major repairs. The couple, both elderly, were unable to physically repair the ramp themselves and didn’t have the money to pay someone to do it.”
After hearing about their financial troubles, the officers left to retrieve the tools they would need to rebuild the ramp themselves — saving the man and his wife possibly hundreds in repair costs.
“Our officers knew they couldn’t just leave without doing anything about it, so they left to gather supplies needed and came back to repair the ramp,” their post continued.
A video posted to their Facebook page shows the officers taking apart the badly eroded wooden ramp piece by piece, then bringing in brand new wood to support the pieces of the foundation that were still salvageable. They then placed a large piece of wood that reached from the couple’s doorway to the sidewalk.
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“Although these officers believe they do not need any special recognition for doing this, we wanted to share this story to show you the often unseen kindness that our officers spread throughout our communities,” the department wrote in the caption of the video, which has been seen 12,000 times since it was posted. “This story wouldn’t have been shared had Captain Anderson not been there to record these scenes and these officers wouldn’t have told anyone about their act of kindness.”
They added, “Everyday officers from across our nation impact the lives of others in ways unnoticed. To all who go above and beyond, thank you.”
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Dozens of people left compliments in the comments section of the video, thanking the officers for having “a heart of gold.”
“All of you are angels and have a heart of Gold,” wrote user Angie Valencia. “Thank you for everything you do for everyone! I also want to thank the Dispatchers and all the EMT! You all Rock!”
“This just makes a heart feel good!” added user Kathy Rouse. “Thank you officers for absolutely everything you all do. Be safe you guys are the best.”
