Few things are as heartwarming as when people pull together to do something kind for someone else. This feels even more powerful when perfect strangers are the ones who decide to do so.
This is a tale of one such occurrence.
Candida Torre has experienced what no mother ever should — the death of her son. To make matters even more tragic, her son, Jose Torre, was a US army soldier who was killed in the line of duty.
To make matters worse, following Jose’s death, Candida has also had the devastating experience of crashing his car. Thankfully, Candida wasn’t severely injured in the accident, but the car which she’d held on dearly to as a memory of her son was declared a total loss by the insurance company and it was prepped to be put away forever.
But one eagle-eyed police officer who arrived on scene following the crash named Officer Baggs noticed the dog tags and army memorabilia in the car and quickly understood that a family member had perished in the line of duty. And that’s when everything took a sudden turn.
Jose Torre was loyal, brave and very family oriented, so when he decided to enlist in the army, his mother Candida wasn’t so surprised. Despite her natural fears, she supported his decision. Then, in 2011, she received the heart-shattering news that Jose had died in the line of duty.
The heartbroken mother held on to her son’s car, a Nissan Cube, that he had been fond of. But in 2015, tragedy struck again: she had a terrible accident during which the car was declared a total loss by the insurance company. She would lose the car, too.
But when Officer Baggs arrived on scene following the accident, he quickly understood the significance of the car for this mom. And he decided he couldn’t just let it get permanently destroyed at a car pound.
So he set to action. He decided he would take charge and try to restore the vehicle for the grieving mom.
He started with calls to the AAA, who, upon hearing Candida’s story, offered to donate the damaged vehicle free of charge.
But what happens next is truly extraordinary.
Officer Baggs managed to mobilize volunteers from the police department and a local body shop named Caliber Collision, and together the $15,000 in repairs soon become free of charge.
It was a great cause, and everyone put their heart into it. This wasn’t just another repair for them – it was a chance to give a mom back a piece of her son.
Watch when Candida’s reaction when she receives her most amazing gift in the video below:
Such acts of kindness can’t be admired enough! Share this wonderful story to thank the officers and volunteers for their wonderful deed!
