The community is rallying together as they process the sad news of Newport News Police Officer Katie Thyne dying in the line of duty. Her acts of kindness and thoughtfulness is being remembered by every person there.
She died as she was dragged by a car during a traffic stop on Friday. Thyne played a part in the community as a basketball coach for the Boys and Girls Club and also took part in other worthy causes.
Keith Ivy recalled that he was rushing to help his daughter in need on Thursday afternoon, when Thyne pulled him over. After an initial talk, she soothed him, and said she’d pray for his family and sent him on his way. Soon she was gone, and he says it’s something he’ll never forget.
“Having law enforcement behind you is a nervous situation, but that day it’s something different,” he said. “When she approached me, she came with a smile, so I knew it was something genuine,” Ivy added. “She went through the protocol that she normally does during her normal routine traffic stop,” he said. He was traveling down 35th Street in a hurry.
“I told her I said hey I’m just trying to hurry up and get to my daughter, she blacked out in school. I’m just trying to rush her to the emergency room,” he said. And while Thyne was on duty that day, Ivy says he was moved by her compassion. She let him go with a warning — before telling him that she would pray. “She told me before leaving me that she’d pray for me and my daughter and hope that she gets well soon,” Ivy said.
“I’m a single father of three beautiful daughters and to see someone that actually cares and give a kind word of prayer means a lot,” he said. When he realized she had died, he was moved emotionally again. “I didn’t know her, but just being able to come across someone at that time for that moment and then hearing about the tragic of the loss of that individual was kind of devastating,” he said.
Ivy’s daughter is well now, and after hearing about how compassionate Thyne was, he wants to do something to contribute to the causes she was working for in the community. He said, he hopes to meet with her family and the people in the Boys and Girls Club to become a mentor there.
