The strength and kindness that this state trooper showed at a time of complete heartbreak is simply exemplary. Georgia State Trooper Nathan Bradley’s duties include upholding traffic laws and investigation of crashes. But this past Halloween (October 31st 2015), he would go far beyond the call of duty.
That day, the 25-year-old trooper answered a dispatch call about a car crash, which tragically ended the lives of Donald and Crystal Howard. Trooper Bradley noticed their home address was less than a mile away and decided to head over to the home to notify the next of kin.
“A county deputy, the deputy coroner and myself made our way to the house that was backed into the woods. You could hear dogs barking behind the wooden door as we knocked with desperation,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page. “The door hesitantly opened and there behind the locked screen door stood four children in full costume – a 13-year-old Freddy Krueger, 10-year-old daughter of a Dracula, 8-year-old wizard and a 6-year-old that appeared to be a firefighting ninja turtle. We were lost with words. The deputy then asked the eldest boy if anybody was home, hoping for a ‘Yes’ but the boy would unknowingly disappoint us. ‘My parents went to the store to get more face paint. They told us not to open the door for anybody, but they should be back soon.'”
Source: Alive 11
The deputies and Bradley would stall for the next hour as they searched for the kids’ closest relative and eventually they were able to reach the kids’ grandmother in south Florida. After breaking the terrible news to her, she told them she would come right away.
Bradley realized that the drive would take her seven hours. Having never been responsible for a child’s life, Bradley was suddenly “the custodian of four”. He was struck with another realization that made him sick.
“I immediately fell ill,” he wrote. “Not only would these children discover they lost both parents, but would spend their Halloween in a county jail until somebody could tend to them; it just wasn’t right. I pulled the deputy coroner to the side and told him that I was split. I wanted to preserve these kids’ Halloween and the ones to come. I suggested that I’d care for them until their family was able to.”
The deputy approved of Bradley’s plan. Bradley immediately ran over to the kids and asked if they would like to go eat with him. They said “yes” and Bradley ended up taking them out for ice cream and candy and burgers and fries.
He noticed the kids were all very smart and learned from them that their parents home-schooled them. He learned that their father served in the United States Army for eight years, completing two tours; one to Afghanistan and the other in Iraq. He learned that the youngest is a huge fan of Law and Order: SVU.
They wound up at the department’s post and there several cops arrived and visited with the children. Bradley’s corporal came with his family and his children and the four kids watched movies and ate candy together.
As it was late and their grandmother had not yet arrived, the children stayed at the post that night (the station has extra rooms, each with its own bathroom).
Bradley said as the kids were being tucked in for the night, “The little girl grabbed my attention when she said ‘You turned an F-Minus day into an A-Plus night!’ I can’t begin to explain how hard it was to hear that, considering the night would be memorable but for reasons that were yet to be disclosed to them.”
Screenshot: GoFundMe
Their grandmother arrived at dawn and they agreed it would be best to let the children sleep and to tell the children the next day. Bradley so wished for Halloween to be preserved for the kids for that day and in the years to come.
He made sure to give his contact details to the kids and asked them to stay in touch. When he later learned from the 13-year-old boy that it was going to cost his grandparents $7,000 dollars to transport his parents to Florida and for the remaining funeral costs” Bradley was prompted to set up a GoFundMe page for the family.
He asked for the donation of $7,000 and said that any funds over the goal would be placed into a trust fund to provide higher education for the four children. The community has responded generously and donations have reached $270,000.
The children’s grandmother says she will be forever grateful for Trooper Bradley’s compassion towards her grandchildren, saying that he took care of them when they needed it most. Trooper Bradley was there for them, all the way. He truly is an officer and a man with a heart of gold.
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