A Yonkers, New York, police officer and his colleagues are being praised for helping an unconscious boy and his family while attending a funeral procession for a fallen comrade on October 27.
The Yonkers police commissioner received a letter of appreciation from the son of the retired Westchester Department of Corrections officer whose funeral it was.
In the letter, the man thanked Yonkers Police Sergeant Frank Gualdino and other officers from the department’s Traffic Division/Motorcycle Unit for assisting his relatives that day while escorting the procession.
According to the letter, which was posted by the department on its Facebook page with the family’s permission, the man’s 3-year-old nephew fell unconscious following the funeral mass. Gualdino immediately took over the situation and transported the boy directly to a local hospital in his police cruiser, with the help of another officer.
Yonkers officers also provided first aid to the deceased’s widow, who had “fainted from the entire ordeal,” and comforted the rest of the understandably distressed family.
The procession then continued on to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, where the deceased was laid to rest.
Gualdino later took the time to visit the boy at the hospital when the funeral ended.
“Providing a detail to my father’s funeral helped honor my father in the manner that he wished,” the letter said. “Your officers provided aid when it was needed and showed compassion to my family on a very difficult day. We thank the officers of the Yonkers PD for their service.”