Two Cops Step In After Discovering Blind Teen Was Threatening Suicide over Bullying
When two police officers received a call about a teen who was contemplating committing suicide, they went above and beyond the call of duty to help.
When they arrived at the 15-year-old’s school, they learned the legally-blind teen named Victor was being bullied. That day, he told a teacher he didn’t think he wanted to be alive anymore.
Officers Monique Sedberry and Alicia Martinez decided to speak with him to let him know his life was worth living, no matter what others told him.
“He’s not just any 15-year-old getting bullied,” Sedberry said. “He absolutely was unable to defend himself. He needed us to defend him.”
Thankfully, Victor agreed to go to the hospital for treatment with his parents.
But the officers did more than reassure him that everything would be okay. They also decided to give him something he truly deserved: friendship.
“We let him know his life is precious,” she said. “I gave him my card and said, ‘You call me if you need me.’”
Today, Victor is doing much better, and now has very close relationships with the officers who came to his aid a year ago. Their friendship has given him the confidence he thought he’d never know.
Both officers talk to the teen on a weekly basis, and have bought him new shoes and school supplies for his family.
They also regularly attend his karate matches, Junior ROTC parades, and even stop by his home just to say hello.
“As a commander, it makes me very, very proud of what they do,” said Cmdr. Mark Fleecs. “They’re not only crime fighters. They do other good things for their community.”
In April 2018, officers Sedberry and Martinez both received awards from the nonprofit Citizens Appreciate Police in recognition of their going beyond the call of duty.
Their story is a beautiful reminder that an act of kindness, no matter how small it may seem, is never wasted.
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