After being pulled over for speeding, a Springfield, Illinois pastor won’t soon forget the kindness of a local police officer who escorted him directly to the hospital after he explained his daughter was experiencing a life-threatening medical condition.
Emmanuel Temple Church Pastor Glen Morrison Jr. was enjoying a relaxing Sunday evening on Sept. 17 when he noticed his three-year-old daughter was having a “coughing fit”, WICS-TV reported.
Morrison picked up his daughter, put her in his vehicle, and in his own words, “started flying” to the local emergency room. He admitted to the outlet that he “was going pretty fast.”
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“She had been kind of been going through this for about a half hour,” the pastor said. “The frustration was rising. And so, yeah, I was flying down Madison. I was.”
Then Springfield Police Officer Bill Whitener pulled Morrison over for speeding, according to WICS.
As the officer got out of his police car and approached, the pastor rolled down his window, and said, ‘Hey, I apologize for speeding. My daughter, I think she may be having something similar to an asthma attack. And I’m just trying to get her to the hospital.”
Immediately recognizing the medical emergency, Officer Whitener didn’t hesitate. He told Morrison to turn on his hazard lights and follow him. Whitener jumped into his vehicle, and led the way with his red lights blazing, giving the pastor a police escort in order to not have to delay at any stop lights.
“He quickly said, ‘Just follow me, follow me.’ Obviously, there weren’t too many cars out, it was the middle of the night. But he turned his lights on, and we were able to make it all the way down the street without having to stop any lights. We just kind of followed him. He kind of just escorted us right to the emergency room,” Morrison told WICS.
The pastor told the outlet he was extremely grateful to Officer Whitener and appreciated him for his help.
In a statement to the website Church Leaders, Pastor Morrison said Whitener’s dedication and the service that he showed to his family brought him to tears.
“This personally brought tears to my eyes to be served by our Police Department in such a humbling way,” he said. “This was a reminder that behind those badges are real people that can relate to our day-to-day life situations. And they actually do care for us!”
Morrison’s daughter received treatment and is doing well, according to WICS.
The pastor also told Church Leaders, “My daughter is alive and well from a situation that wasn’t taken for granted by our Men in Blue!” and he also thanked God “for always showing up right on time.”
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