'Can I Pray For You?': Officer Stops Family for Speeding But a Viral Photo of What Happened Next Is Inspiring Thousands

Billy Hallowell : Jun 15, 2022
Faithwire.com

"At that time, I knew there is no way I'm writing this lady a ticket. I had to sit in [my car] for a while just to compose myself to figure out what to say when I went back..." -Officer Doty to WSOC-TV

[Faithwire.com] A powerful scene unfolded earlier this year, when a North Carolina trooper pulled a driver over for speeding and, rather than dole out a ticket, the cop compassionately prayed with a man battling cancer. (Screengrab image)

A photo of the encounter, which has gone viral, shows North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper Jaret Doty leaning into the car as both he and Anthony "Tony" Geddis, who had colon cancer, closed their eyes to pray in unison.

The touching interaction was captured by Ashlye V. Wilkerson, Geddis' 39-year-old daughter, who was driving the car. The image spread across social media after Geddis died May 22 and his daughter subsequently posted the photo and a tribute to her dad on social media.

"It was a really beautiful moment for me to see this take place between my dad and the officer," Wilkerson told CNN.

The Story Behind the Photo

Doty's and Geddis' paths collided March 28, while Wilkerson was driving her father home to South Carolina after he received chemotherapy treatments at Duke University.

Wilkerson realized she was speeding when she saw the officer's lights coming up behind her, so she pulled over and waited. Little did she know it would be anything but a routine stop.

"Ma'am, do you know what speed you were doing?" Doty said. "I'm going to need your license and registration."

That's when Geddis, exhausted from treatment and barely able to speak, quietly defended his daughter and told the cop she was driving him home from chemo.

Doty nodded and took Wilkerson's license and registration back to his car, CNN reported.

And that's when things turned quite interesting, as Doty was gone for a long time. The family wondered what was taking so long.

"At that time, I knew there is no way I'm writing this lady a ticket," Doty told WSOC-TV. "I had to sit in [my car] for a while just to compose myself to figure out what to say when I went back."

Little did Wilkerson or Geddis know, but Doty, too, had his own health struggles in the past that left him feeling as though he was dying.

The officer had immediately noticed Geddis was in pain when he initially approached the car—and hearing that Geddis had cancer brought Doty back to his own struggles with ulcerative colitis and the removal of part of his colon.

As Doty sat in his patrol car, he made a powerful decision: he would return to the car and pray with Geddis. So, he walked back with an unexpected request for the family... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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