People adored 80-year-old Maryalice McGrath. The sweet little old lady didn’t know a stranger and was incredibly kind.
Even though she still had a driver’s license, she didn’t drive a car often. She walked most everywhere she could, said her niece Molly Quinn.
“She did walk often and she had gone that day to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription.”
While enjoying the day and her stroll back home, Maryalice was hit by truck. Apparently the truck driver failed to see her while she was crossing the intersection.
Tragically, she didn’t see the truck either.
But Philadelphia Police Department’s Neighborhood Services Unit Officer Francis Lynch saw the accident unfold before his very eyes. There was nothing he could do to stop the truck from barreling down upon Maryalice.
“I immediately looked in my side mirror and I saw Maryalice laying in the crosswalk.”
The accident occurred along Aramingo Avenue in the city’s Port Richmond section. Maryalice had lived there all of her life.
She was a dedicated member of the Nativity BVM adult choir and was a longtime employee of Kasco Construction Company in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania. Maryalice was loved by many, but right now, her very life was in the balance.
The officer rushed out into the intersection to check her condition and instantly called for an ambulance and officer assistance. Officer Lynch realized Maryalice’s injuries were too severe to wait for the ambulance.
She wasn’t going to make it. The stark truth slapped Officer Lynch in the face.
As Maryalice laid there immobile, the police officer did something so shocking, so surprising that people couldn’t believe it.
Feeling absolutely helpless with his inability to save Maryalice’s life, Officer Lynch did the only thing he could think of.
He laid down on the hot pavement right next to Maryalice so she wouldn’t be scared and alone in the final minutes of her life.
The humble man laid there for 30 minutes in traffic, never once leaving her side. He talked to her and made sure she knew he was there.
In fact, it was so insanely hot that day that the officer was burned by the hot pavement so severely that he had to be treated at the hospital later on.
The impact of lying there, watching Maryalice leave the world rattled the brave and tough officer.
“It’s been over a week now and I still get a little choked. Something that I don’t want to relive again. I’m sure it’s going to take more time for me. But I still have a job to do and I’ve got to keep doing that.”
Maryalice’s family was beyond grateful when they heard what the officer had done. It was reassuring to them that she wasn’t by herself while passing from such traumatic injuries.
Molly believes Officer Lynch is a true hero. He modestly disagrees.
“I think he was there for a reason and he was her guardian angel. And he went above and beyond the call of duty by just lying in the street next to this poor woman when she needed him.”
Many other people agree with Molly. Twitter user Ericka Hill believes he was her guardian, too.
“God sent u to the right place at the right time.”
We salute Officer Lynch for the selfless act and compassion he showed an elderly woman as her life tragically slipped away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Maryalice’s family.
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