After getting hit by a calamity on the last day of 2020, a Guelph family was left in awe after two Guelph police officers went above and beyond the call of duty to help them out.
“Although The circumstances were not great, for me, it was a really positive ending. It's been a bit of a crazy year for a lot of people,” said Krista Burns whose family was moved by the generosity of two Guelph Police Service officers, constables Mike Lunn and Michael Nixon.
On New Year’s Eve, Krista’s father, 58-year-old Dave Burns injured his leg while helping her grandfather move into a care home.
After the family called 911, police were first to arrive at the scene and placed a tourniquet to slow the bleeding from the leg wound. Krista said the quick thinking gesture potentially saved her dad from a very serious emergency.
She said the help didn't stop there.
One of the responding officers called her mother, Colleen Burns, to inform her that her husband hurt himself. Upon learning that she was on a tight deadline to complete the move with just her and her brother, he offered to help.
“He called my mom and mom said that she had to go and she had to finish helping (move), and the officer said ‘Are you able to?’” said Krista.
“And she said ‘Well, I have to try.’ She had no choice."
The officer told her to wait while he spoke with one of his coworkers, Krista said.
Colleen said the officer had mentioned her husband was more upset about leaving his brother-in-law stranded with no help than his own leg which ended up getting 40 stitches.
She said she assumed that the officers would get called for duty and not be able to come help. Regardless, she thought the gesture to offer help was sweet.
“And then I got to the home and started moving stuff and then they actually showed up,” said Colleen.
“I was very surprised,” she laughed.
Colleen said the officers were friendly, more than willing to pick up heavy loads, and stayed to help till the very last minute.
“They said 'What do you want us to do? Where do you want us to start?’” said Colleen.
“It was just wonderful.”
She said she was shocked by the act of kindness especially on a busy day like New Year's Eve.
“They do help out. They do take the time, they do wanna help people in the community. I just thought it would be nice that people could see another side to the story and maybe realize that there’s good in everybody,” said Colleen.
She added that her husband is recovering well from his injury.
“He's doing good. His leg is still tender and sore but other than that he’s doing pretty good,” said Colleen.
Krista, whose partner is also a police officer, said she felt it was necessary to share the story on her Facebook page because acts of kindness by police officers often get overlooked.
“My first reaction was ‘That's amazing. That's above and beyond what they’re expected to do.’” said Krista.
She said in reality, the officer could have closed the file right there and say this is done, but he didn't. And not only did he help, he got others to help out too.
“On a daily basis, officers tend to do little things here and there — now for us, it was substantial — pretty much every day that go unseen. It can be a little thankless some of the stuff that they have to go through,” said Krista.
“People don't always say thank you when they do things and I think rather than just getting a pat on the back from their superiors for a job well done, I wanted to make sure that they actually got recognized in a good way, in a way that was substantial, and in a way that was meaningful.”
