An emotional conversation that took place between a man and a state trooper in North Carolina was captured on video and has since been shared throughout various social media platforms.
The moving incident took place in March, but the photo of it has just been released online in the recent weeks, after the guy who was in the photo passed away.
Dr. Ashlye V. Wilkerson of Columbia, South Carolina, was traveling back from Durham with her father, Deacon Anthony Geddis, when she saw police lights in her rear view.
Wilkerson acknowledged to the police that she was at fault and presented the officer with the proper documentation, according to an account that she uploaded on her Facebook page.
“Just like you usually did, you promptly came to my aid when I was in trouble. Your voice was quiet since you were still experiencing some residual side effects from the therapy. You told him that I was your baby daughter and that we were traveling back to South Carolina from North Carolina, where you were receiving treatment for cancer. The officer gave a nod and then returned to the patrol car.”
After acknowledging the struggles that the family was going through, Trooper Jaret Doty went back to his car.
Doty said in an interview with WSOC-TV, “At that moment, I realized there is no way I’m giving this woman a ticket.” “I had to wait in (my vehicle) for a long just to prepare myself so that I could think out what to say when I got back,” the officer said.
When he got back to their car, he told them that he, too, had to cope with cancer in his family, and then he did something that was surprising.
According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, “While chatting with Mr. Geddis, Doty provided words of support and encouragement, but felt obliged to do more.”
“Trooper Doty volunteered to pray with Mr. Geddis, and the two men clasped hands and paused for prayer on the side of the road,” Geddis said. His daughter took a photograph of the two men as they were in the act of praying.
Trooper Doty, who has been a member of the force for 22 years, said that while he prays on his own time, he has never prayed alongside another person he has met in his career.
Doty was impelled to make contact with Geddis due to the mysterious qualities that he had. Tragically, Geddis passed away on May 22, exactly two months after his run-in with Trooper Doty.
A week after her father’s passing, Geddis’s daughter wrote a memorial to her father and thanked Trooper Doty for praying with her father that day.
Since Geddis’ death, Wilkerson and Doty have reconnected.
“I may not have been on the highway if they had left the Duke Medical Center five minutes sooner or five minutes later,” Doty added. “I would not have stopped them if someone had been speeding ahead of them. It’s simply that God has a weird way of working.”
God, in my opinion, operates in mysterious ways. These people were placed in a situation to meet each other and, and we are happy they did.
Anthony Geddis, may you rest in peace.
