Last week, while at a doctor’s appointment with his wife, 87-year-old Julian Papp got in their car and drove off without her. Papp’s family says the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, man suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's and hasn’t driven in years, so they were concerned and a Silver Alert was issued for him.
After midnight that night, over 250 miles away in Knoxville, Sergeant Michael Turley of the Tennessee Highway Patrol went to check on a car parked on the side of the interstate and discovered Papp behind the wheel. With temperatures in the 30s that night, Turley decided to take the elderly man to a nearby Waffle House for a warm meal. He then stayed with Papp until his family arrived hours later.
Papp’s family is grateful to Turley for treating their father with “so much compassion, dignity, and respect." But Turley says he is grateful to have had the opportunity to meet Papp. And when asked why he went so far to help a stranger, Turley says he was just doing what he hopes someone would do for his loved ones.
Source: WXII 12