Officer comforts hysterically crying boy with special needs
Photo: Corinne Oestreich/Facebook
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - A mother’s Facebook post about a kindhearted cop is gaining a lot of attention on Facebook.
Corinne Oestreich said she knew going into Monday the day would be tough for her son, who has special needs.
“His grandma had just left on a plane to go back to Minnesota after a blissful visit and Hunter was extremely upset already,” Oestreich said.
The California woman said she was at the grocery store with Hunter, who suffers from Tourette syndrome, OCD and severe anxiety, when the boy had what she described as the worst breakdown she'd ever seen him go through in his life.
“He kicked and screamed through the entire store,” she said. “I held him, I consoled him. I firmly and kindly stayed calm, yet inside I was terrified of the looks from other shoppers, or rather from their averted eyes as my son threw himself on the floor of Luckys."
Oestreich said her son’s breakdown got so bad she couldn’t safely get him to their car.
“He was hitting himself in the face now and I was desperately trying to get him to focus on me, on anything,” Oestreich said. “And that’s when we saw Officer Ben.
Oestreich said the policeman stepped out of his patrol car and then went above and beyond the call of duty.
“He very calmly was able to distract Hunter, let him see the inside of the patrol car and even took time to demonstrate to Hunter how to look for finger prints!”
Hunter went from hysterically crying to “quiet interest,” according to his mother.
“Officer Ben was understanding, wanted to make sure that I knew he was not in any haste to go anywhere and that Hunter and I were his focus,” she said. “He kept a distance from Hunter and I could tell he was gauging how much Hunter would allow him to be near him.”
Oestreich praised the officer and told Sunnyvale Police they have an amazing member on their team.
“He really helped my son today, and gave this mama some reinforcements when I thought my own anxiety was near flooding with tears.”