In many communities across America, officers of the law are the first line of defense when danger approaches.
Here at LittleThings, we’re often in the position to show officers in more relaxed settings, as we saw with this sweet officer hanging out with kids in his community and showing off his awesome dance moves.
Still, it’s important to remember that, even as they show a lighter side, officers are still putting their lives on the line every single day.
Officers fight crime, but they’re also on call to help out in any emergency situation. They might find themselves as first responders in a huge variety of dangerous circumstances, from halting a violent attack to working to rescue people during a natural disaster.
In these situations, we’ve seen officers rise to the challenge and become truly selfless, occasionally sacrificing their own lives to protect others.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the story of an Arkansas trooper who faced near-certain death head-on to save innocent lives.
Scroll through the gallery below to learn more about this story.
[H/T: Love What Matters]
In the wee hours of the morning of July 8, Arkansas state troopers received an alarming emergency call: there were reports of a drunk driver speeding in the wrong direction on the interstate.
It was 3:35 a.m. when the call came in, and Trooper First Class Roy Moomey was sent out to investigate the reports.
He arrived at Interstate 40 and immediately spotted his suspect, who was indeed speeding, westward in an eastbound lane.
The man behind the wheel was putting every other driver on the highway at risk.
A head-on collision at those speeds is not only likely to kill or severely injure the passengers in both cars, it is also likely to cause a pileup, potentially leading to more loss of lives.
When Trooper Moomey spotted the reckless driver courting a horrific accident, he had to make an incredibly difficult judgment call.
According to Officer.com, there's "no particular standard practice for intercepting a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the interstate."
In other words, every wrong-way driver is different, and requires different handling.
In this case, the drunk driver was moving very quickly and the stretch of road was temporarily empty.
Trooper Moomey made a split-second, self-sacrificing decision, and deliberately crashed his own cruiser head-on into the oncoming car.
Trooper Moomey surely knew that there was a very high chance that he wouldn't emerge from the collision alive.
He deliberately threw himself into near-certain death in a desperate bid to stop a reckless driver and protect other motorists on the road.
But somehow, miraculously, he survived.
The oncoming driver, who was eventually identified at Michael Choate, 24, was killed by the collision.
It's clear from the photos of the wreckage that Moomey's cruiser was utterly destroyed by the impact.
The airbags deployed, the hood was thrown up onto the roof, and the car looked as though it had been through a trash compactor.
You look at this kind of wreckage, and you can't imagine that anyone survived.
In other words, Trooper Moomey is a living, breathing miracle.
He landed in the ICU in serious but stable condition and underwent a number of surgeries.
Remarkably, just two weeks after his heroic act, he's well enough to receive visitors, and was even called on by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Trooper Moomey was one of six troopers who received a lifesaving award for his service in May of 2015, for his role in rescuing a man from a burning vehicle.
Now, it looks like Moomey will probably have more awards ceremonies in his future, so it's time for him to focus on getting well.
He is now starting his rehabilitation, but will require more treatment in the weeks and months to come. If you're interested in helping out with his medical expenses, you can check out the GoFundMe page set up to support his care.
You can also SHARE this story on Facebook, and help spread the word about Trooper Moomey's selfless action that saved untold lives!
