Police Officer Adopts Boy He Helped Save

It’s a moving story of how God brought a father and son together through tragic circumstances.

It all started when Officer Jody Thompson responded to a dispatch about a physical child abuse case two years ago, CBS News reports.

When he arrived at the scene, Officer Thompson saw something he’d never forget.

A boy, John, was covered in bruises and abrasions from head to toe. He was severely underweight. His wrists were bound by belts, and he had been submerged in a trash can full of cold water. He was shivering and confused.

And he was only 8 years old.

Officer Thompson refused to let John out of his sight, staying with him all night in the intensive care unit at the hospital.

Thompson knew his concern for the boy went beyond a policeman’s call of duty – it was the protective instinct a father would have for his son.

“When I’d seen him in that house shivering and his hands tied — just soaking wet and confused — I knew at that moment the only time I would be satisfied and sure that he was safe is if he was with me,” Thompson told CBS News.

And so the police officer set out to make that a reality by becoming a certified foster parent.

That’s how John joined Officer Thompson at home with his wife, Jeannie, and their two sons, who were 15 and 8 at the time.

To add to the change the Thompsons were experiencing, two days after John joined them as a foster child, the family found out Jeannie was pregnant.

Charley, 10 (left), Ryan, 16, Zaven, 6 months, Jeannie (center), Paizley, 7 months, John, 10, and Jody Thompson (right).

And despite it all, when DHS informed them that John’s biological mother had given birth to a baby girl while in jail, Officer and Mrs. Thompson agreed to foster her. They brought little Paizley home when she was only a day old.

Since then, the Thompsons have adopted John and Paizley. John is thriving, making straight-As at school and part of a local drama club.

And Officer Thompson?

The arrival of his third biological son makes him a father of five.

“Never in my life did I dream of having a large family,” he reflected. “But God had different plans and so here we are. And I’m loving it all.”

That’s the beauty of allowing God to surprise you with love.