Need a lift? Officer Lavin answers call
Mesa policeman carries day for woman with MS
Tavia Warner was on her way to teach a class on domestic violence at Community Health Services in Mesa, but she couldn’t get there because of traffic from the Mesa-Phoenix marathon.
So she decided to park her car and walk the last mile.
“I had my ASU Chucks (Converse All-Stars) on and my ASU cane, so I thought I’d be just fine,” Warner said.
Warner, who has multiple sclerosis, said she had parked near Mesa Drive and Brown Road about 9 a.m. and started walking to work, about a mile away.
When Warner was about halfway to work, her legs could no longer support her, but that’s when help arrived.
“I had a citizen who came up and he talked to me, let me know there was a woman with a cane who they thought she was struggling,” said Mesa Police Officer Brandon Lavin, who was directing traffic for the Feb. 24 marathon.
“He put me over his shoulder like I was an empty backpack, and walked me all the way to my office.” Tavia Warner
Lavin said officers are supposed to stay in their area of work and cannot leave, but he was working with another officer that day. So, he didn’t think twice before walking over to see if he could help the woman.
“I helped her up and we started to walk,” Lavin said. “But I noticed she was struggling.”
Lavin said there were lots of people looking at him, wondering what was going on. Warner recalled what happened next.
“He put me over his shoulder like I was an empty backpack, and walked me all the way to my office,” Warner said.
He did so for about the last half-mile of her walk to work.
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Lavin said, adding that his goal was to help her get to work. “This was the best way to get her there.” Warner, who met up with Lavin earlier this week, is grateful for the way Lavin handled the situation.
“I was a victim of a random act of kindness, and it was amazing,” she said.