A doctor who was pulled over for speeding was shocked when the Minnesota state trooper who stopped her gave her his small stash of N95 protective masks instead of a ticket.
CNN reported that Dr. Sarosh Ashraf Janua, a cardiologist working with a coronavirus quarantine unit, was pulled over on March 21, but was soon moved to tears by the trooper’s generosity.
Janua wrote on Facebook that when she handed the trooper her Massachusetts driver’s license he asked what she was doing way out in Minnesota. She told him she was “here every month for my work as a locums cardiologist.” She said the trooper then returned to his patrol car to run her license and when he returned he gave her a firm lecture about speeding and taking up resources if she were in an accident and wouldn’t be able to help patients.
“Feeling thoroughly chastised, I waited for him to write me a ticket. Instead, he told me he was going to let me off with a warning,” she wrote. “As I sputtered to apologize and say thank you, he reached in to hand me what I assumed was my license back. It wasn’t until my hand had closed around what he was giving me that its unexpected bulkiness drew my eyes to it.”
She said the trooper gave her five N95 masks – from the supply he had to protect himself. She said she “burst into tears” and believed the trooper teared up as well.
“Like all healthcare workers and emergency responders around the world, I have felt afraid of not having adequate protective equipment, and in my darkest moments, have worried about what would happen if I fell sick far from home,” she wrote. “This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking.”
Janua thanked the trooper, Brian Schwartz, in her post and on CNN with Anderson Cooper.
“I think we are all just hanging on to something that makes us feel safe,” Janjua said on CNN. “Somehow, for Americans, that something has become N95 masks and toilet paper. Trooper Schwartz’ act of kindness became my something.”
The Minnesota State Patrol thanked Janua on its own Facebook page, writing: “Thank you to Sarosh for her hard work and dedication. Troopers are working hard during the pandemic and are thinking about all the first responders who are caring for Minnesotans during this critical time.”
The Daily Wire’s Joseph Curl previously reported that despite the current dark times, Americans across the country are displaying acts of kindles like Trooper Schwartz:
In Houston, Texas, for instance, a couple left a $9,400 tip at a restaurant. “Irma’s southwest restaurant in Houston, Texas, says a person came in on Monday after Harris county announced a mandatory shutdown of bars and nightclubs,” according to CBS17. “That’s when, restaurant employees say, a customer left them a $9400 tip.” The couple left a note on the receipt that read, ‘Hold tip to pay you guys over the next few weeks.’”
In San Diego, a Facebook group created to coordinate volunteer efforts — San Diego Community Volunteers — saw a massive influx of people offering to help, going from 50 members to more than 400 in a matter of days.
In Walnut Creek, Ca., outside San Francisco, a dentist is offering free emergency dental services — at home, since much of the state is on lockdown — to ease congestion at hospital emergency rooms, Yahoo! News reports. And there’s much more.