IT'S OK TO SAY THANK YOU

Category: CHANGE YOUR WORLD

Woman Thanks Police Officer Who Helped Her 20 Years Ago

WICHITA, KS--Every day police officers come to work hoping they make a difference and and what happened back in the late 90s did make a difference. It changed the course of a young girl's life.

Twenty years ago, Officer  Trish Tiede was new to the Wichita Police Department. She responded to a domestic violence call where she found a 5-year-old girl crying at the sight of her family members fighting.

"I'm sure I just tried to comfort her, let her know that we're not the bad guys, that it will all work out and get better," Officer Tiede explained.

Tiede stayed with the young girl before taking her to a children's home and then that was it. She went back to her job, responding to calls, driving her police beat. But a few weeks ago, that little girl, Tiffany Adams, now grown up, reached out to Tiede.

"I've been thinking about trying to contact her for years and finally I just decided I really wanted to know who she was and I just wanted to let her know what she had done for me,' said Adams. " I want to help somebody the same way that she helped me."

Right now, the two women have only emailed back and forth, but say the next time Adams is in Wichita, the two plan to meet. Adams now lives in Sioux City, Iowa.  She graduates from college in May and plans to enter law enforcement, all because of that short encounter years ago.