A truck driver from the U.S. state of Indiana got a most pleasant surprise when he received not a ticket but a sympathetic prayer instead from a state trooper who stopped him along a busy highway for breaking the speed limit.
Rodney Gibson said he was emotionally disturbed while speeding down a busy highway in Bloomington, Indiana on Monday after he was told by doctors that his daughter was not responding to the treatment they're giving for her breast cancer, ABC affiliate WRTV reported.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Todd Durnil told ABC News that he pulled Gibson over for a speeding violation. When he approached, the police officer said Gibson appeared to be very "upset and angry" and that it was not about the traffic stop but about "something else going on."
Durnil said he wanted to "figure out a way to get through to" Gibson. He then noticed an angel pin on Gibson's sun visor that was the same as the one he had.
Pointing at the angel pin, Durnil said he told Gibson, "thinking how we're probably not all that different."
Gibson then opened up to the police officer "with tears in his eyes," saying the pin was from his daughter who had been battling breast cancer for six years already. Gibson said her doctors had just told him that her daughter's cancer had metastasised and that there's nothing more that they could do to save her.
Durnil said he felt truly sorry for Gibson. He said he told himself, "this man already has enough, I'm not going to write him any paperwork for a ticket or even a warning."
The police officer said his first thought was that Gibson really needed prayers and that he would tell his family and church to pray for him.
Durnil then asked Gibson if there was anything he could do to help him, and Gibson replied, "Do you know how to pray?"
Durnil then went over to the right side of the vehicle, took his hat off, knelt down, took Gibson's hand and said a prayer. Both men cried while they prayed, imploring God to save Gibson's daughter.
The following morning, Durnil said his station notified him that Gibson had called to express his gratitude to Durnil for his kindness.
"I hope everyone that hears about this is one more person that can pray for him and his family," Durnil told ABC News.
