Photos of Officer Jeremy Thomas of the Detroit Police Department helping a local homeless man shave have gone viral as people are praising the moment of kindness as that of true human connection. The interaction was captured by Jill Metiva Shafer last week, who photographed Thomas assisting 62-year-old Stanley Nelson after the officer spotted him attempting to use a puddle in the street to rinse off his razor and give himself a shave, she told Good Morning America.
“What a great Detroit cop!!” she wrote alongside the photos. “This is right outside Comerica park. The game was a rainout but this officer went way above and beyond to help this man shave!!!”
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To Good Morning America, she explained of photographing the moment, “I took the picture because I thought it was such a kind, unselfish thing for an officer to do. With all the negativity that police officers get, I wanted to show them in a positive light.”
After the moment went viral, Thomas recalled his memory of the moment to WXYZ. “I walked up and I said, ‘Excuse me, sir’ and at that point, he’s like, ‘Ok, ok, I’ll leave and I said, ‘No, do you need some help?’” he said. “And he turned around blindly and said, ‘Yes, thank you. God bless.’”
Nelson added to the ABC affiliate that he had been attempting to shave after a kind person had given him a razor and shaving cream.
“What he did for me, that was alright,” Nelson said of Thomas’ kind gesture. “I really appreciate that because I’m going through my thing and I feel bad about myself, but I’m going to be alright.”
He continued, “God’s going to bless him for doing that for me.”
Photo credit: Robert Alexander / Contributor, Getty
