A girl's sweet gesture put a smile on these officer's faces during a time they needed it the most.
Isabella Gregory, a 5-year-old from Kentucky, stopped at a McDonald's restaurant with her family to use the bathroom last week, Today.com reported. While she was there, a group of law enforcement members, who had just left a funeral for their slain colleague Kentucky State Police trooper Joseph Ponder, entered the restaurant.
The 5-year-old's mother, Sarah Yockey, had previously told her about the funeral and when Isabella saw the group -- which included members of the Kentucky State Police and a sergeant from the Ohio Highway Patrol -- she decided she wanted to do something to cheer them up, Yockey told The Huffington Post in a message. So, Isabella bought them all ice cream sundaes.
"She used her allowance she earned this past week to put smiles on their faces," Yockey told WDRB. "She said, 'Their friend died, and it's not fair because he has a family too.'"
The gesture meant a lot to the men and they all took a picture with Isabella. Yockey, along with Trooper Eric Homan shared the photo on Facebook, where the good deed garnered quite a bit of attention. The touching photo was also picked up by various media outlets.
"I had no idea that so many people would share it," Homan told WDRB of the attention the photo's received. "We agreed the ball is now in our court to pay it forward as we will soon return back to work in our communities to serve the public."
The 5-year-old and her family had seen a portion of the funeral procession for Ponder earlier that day, and Isabella even stood in salute. While at the restaurant, she also paid for one of the officers' meals after seeing he was 10 cents short, Today.com reported.
"She actually paid for his meal," Yockey told told the outlet. "He told me, 'Ma'am, you didn't have to do that.' I said, 'I didn't. She did.'"
Isabella's kindness comforted the group their rough time.
"We needed that!" Homan wrote in his Facebook post. "Relief comes in all different shapes and sizes, thank you for supporting us Isabella."
The girl has since reunited with a few of the troopers, WDRB reported. This time, they were the ones who treated her to McDonald's.
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