A child receives teddy bears crafted out of his slain father’s police uniform

Tieu
By Tieu
January 7, 2017Stories
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A child receives teddy bears crafted out of his slain father’s police uniform

Nothing can fill the big void that is created in a child’s life after his father’s death. Read on this story in which a two year old kid lost his brave police officer dad!

Life for a first-call officer can be extremely dangerous.  Blake Snyder, a four-year veteran Police Officer, responding to a disturbance call, falls victim to a frivolous, an 18-year-old boy’s act of utter disregard for a human life!

Blake Snyder, 33, left behind his wife, Elizabeth, and their 2-year-old son, Malachi.

Truly a heart touching story about the life and ultimate sacrifice of a police officer!

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Facebook / Elizabeth Snyder

Blake Snyder received a ‘disturbance call’ in the early morning hours of October 6th.   The suspect, an 18-year-old Trenton Forster, pulled a pistol and shot him at point blank range.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said, “It was an immediately fatal wound.”

Feeling compassion for a fellow police wife, another police wife from Granite City, Illinois, thought of an innovative way of bringing some respite into the lives of the grieved wife and child.  She got Thea’s Blessing Bears, a company from Illinois, to make a precious gift for Malachi, the fatherless boy – two teddy bears made out of his father’s Police Uniforms.

 “She wanted us to have a piece of Blake with us, always,” said Elizabeth Snyder.

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Source: Instagram Screenshot

One Teddy Bear has his father – Officer Blake Snyder’s identification No. 4153 stitched on it.

The other Teddy Bear wears a patch from the St. Louis County Police Department.

Watching the mother holding the child – holding his father’s memories – is heart-wrenching. 

In an extremely touching post on Facebook, Elizabeth writes:

“It’s been 10 days…10 days since my heart was ripped from my chest. 10 days since my other half was taken from me. This pain that hasn’t subsided, that hasn’t alleviated, is unbearable and unending. But this child here- he has been the hope in my heartache. He is the reason I get up each day. The reason I keep it together as best I can. The reason I push through.”

Watching the mother holding the child – holding his father’s memories – is heart-wrenching. 

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To Elizabeth Snyder, the possibility of having something like this happen, was not unexpected, as she grew up in a family of law enforcement officers.  But then, when it actually happens, you never can accept it. 

You always tend to ask…”why me?”

How does a mother explain to her two-year-old where his father is gone? 

She said when Malachi first saw the bears, he said, “Bears, bears!” and then called out for his father. “He definitely knows there’s a connection between the bears and Blake,” she said.

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The brave mother is struggling hard to come to terms with fate, but there is one thing she is very clear about.  She definitely wants her son to be proud of his father and for him to know that

“his father was selfless, and he sacrificed his life in the line of duty, trying to protect others.”

Our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the brave soul!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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