Minnesota Trooper's Kindness Brings Coronavirus Doctor To Tears
NORTH BRANCH, MN — A doctor working on the front lines against the spread of the new coronavirus was brought to tears because of a Minnesota state trooper's act of kindness.
Just before 6 p.m. March 21, Trooper Brian Schwartz stopped a vehicle for speeding on Interstate 35 in North Branch, just north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. The driver was Sarosh Ashraf, 37, of Massachusetts.
Ashraf is a doctor in Minnesota working at a COVID-19 quarantine unit in Duluth. She was driving home from work when she was caught going above the speed limit.
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During the stop, Schwartz noticed what appeared to be two used N95 masks in Ashraf’s purse that he assumed she was reusing. Schwartz had heard there was a shortage of personal protective equipment and thought about how Ashraf and doctors like her were in desperate need for more masks.
"Feeling thoroughly chastised, I waited for him to write me a ticket. Instead, he told me he was going to let me off with a warning," Ashraf wrote on her Facebook page.
"As I sputtered to apologize and say thank you, he reached in to hand me what I assumed was my license back. It wasn’t until my hand had closed around what he was giving me that its unexpected bulkiness drew my eyes to it."
Schwartz gave Ashraf five N95 masks from his own state-issued supply.
Ashraf burst into tears. "I think he teared up a little as well, before wishing me well and walking away."
"Like all health care workers and emergency responders around the world, I have felt afraid of not having adequate protective equipment, and in my darkest moments, have worried about what would happen if I fell sick far from home," Ashraf wrote.
"This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking. The veil of civilization may be thin, but not all that lies behind it is savage."
Schwartz says he felt that giving Ashraf a warning instead of a ticket would be enough to stop her from speeding again. He gave her his masks because, at that moment, he thought she needed them more than he did.
"We need to work as a community," Schwartz told media about the traffic stop. "It's all hands on deck right now."
Ashraf discussed the importance of Schwartz's actions in an interview on CNN with Anderson Cooper.
This article originally appeared on the Maple Grove Patch
