CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Here's how my first conversation with Officer Neal Gossett with the Chesapeake Police Department went:
Reporter: "Officer Gossett, I'm Blaine Stewart from Channel 3."
Officer Gossett: "I know who you are."
Reporter: "Do you know why I'm here?"
Officer Gossett: "No I don't."
Reporter: "I am here to present you with this week's News 3 Everyday Hero Award."
Gossett: "Wow!"
Reporter: "Congratulations. Do you have any idea why you got this?"
Gossett: "Just me doing my job. I would hope so."
Well, he wasn't wrong. I was there to recognize him for something he did, while on the job, back in March.
It was just after midnight, outside the second precinct in the South Norfolk neighborhood. Officer Gossett noticed a senior citizen, wandering around out front, needing serious medical attention.
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"It was just very simple," Officer Gossett recalled. "He says 'I need help, can you please give me a ride?' I said no problem. Just let me get that permission to leave the city first."
Officer Gossett drove the man to the VA Hospital in Hampton. That's a 30 mile trip each way. It turns out, the man had a severe case of pneumonia.
He had to stay in the intensive care unit for a week. When he was finally discharged and allowed to return home, the man called News 3 to share his gratitude for what Gossett did that night.
"I've just got compassion for the community, you know, and this is my job to service anybody that needs help, he said."
His boss agrees.
"It's officers like like Officer Gossett here that live and breathe our department's core values of respect, integrity, professionalism, and really embrace that community service," said Captain Jonathan Williams.
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And that's why I set up our little surprise: an award — and a reward. News 3's community partners at Southern Bank gave the officer a $300 Visa gift card for his good deed.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much," Gossett said. "I have two teenage daughters so they're gonna end up taking it, he quipped."
If you'd like to let us know about someone doing good work in your community, nominate them for an award by emailing everydayhero@wtkr.com.
