Boston

BPD Captain Drives 4 Hours to Help Stranded Family

A Boston police captain may be jokingly calling it a kidnapping, but a family from Northern Maine says he saved their day.

The Malenfant family found themselves stuck in Boston last weekend. They had just been in New York City, where 19-year-old daughter Kori had brain surgery for chiari malformation, a rare disorder. She was recovering well, but she had doctor’s orders to rest and take it easy.

The family was on their way back to Westfield, Maine, when inclement weather hit. Their train from New York took longer than expected, and by the time they made it to Boston, they had missed their train by about five minutes. The next train to Maine was a few hours away.

Stuck waiting in North Station, the family realized it was too cold, crowded and uncomfortable for Kori.

"Once we realized there was no way to get out of the cold and that her comfort, and really her safety was an issue, we became alarmed," said mother Wendi.

She found two Boston police officers at the train station, explained her daughter was recovering from surgery, and asked if there was anywhere to get warm or even store their luggage so they could find somewhere else to wait. The officers called their captain, Kelley McCormick.

"I've been through a lot of medical things with my family," said Captain McCormick. "I know what it's like to sit in those situations. So I had an opportunity. And I said 'I'll tell you what, follow me outside.'"

The officer led them to an unmarked police cruiser and they got inside. The Malenfant’s assumed they were there to just warm up, and take a spin around the block. They were thankful for that much.

But then they felt the ride getting longer, and noticed they were heading north on the highway.

"[Wendi] asked 'Are you driving us to Portland?' and I said 'Yes, it’s a kidnapping, but it’s a legal kidnapping,'" said the captain. 

The family was stunned. He was driving four hours, round-trip, to take them to where their vehicle was parked in Portland. They were quiet for a moment, then burst into tears.

"We were so emotional," said Kori. "He was just so kind and humble."

"He said 'Don’t thank me, it’s the commissioner’s gas,'" laughed Wendi.

When they finally got home to Westfield, the family was still feeling stunned. Kori took to her Facebook page, posted the photo she took with Captain McCormick, and wrote a post recapping their ride.

"Tonight, something absolutely amazing happened to us, and I don’t think I’ll be able to truly capture it in words," she wrote.

Her post has received more than 11,000 likes and 7,000 shares. On Monday morning, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh took notice and tweeted, "Thank you, Captain McCormick – a great example of how our @bostonpolice are constantly going above and beyond."

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