Kazzie Portie has experienced a whirlwind of emotions over this past week. Officer Eric Ellison has been there to support him for a lot of them.
Just a couple days before this photo was taken Eric Ellison was on the scene of a accident in which a couple riding a motorcycle were struck and killed by a drunken driver. The victims were the parents of Kazzie Portie, and his 4 [older] siblings.
Officer Ellison took on the job of informing the next of kin; where he met Kazzie. During the initial shock Officer Ellison recalls Kazzie mentioning he doesn’t know what he’s going to do with his graduation coming up. Ellison had this to say: “You are going to walk! Your mom and dad will have front-row seats looking down from heaven, and I’ll stand in their place. I’ve got your back.”
Sure enough, when Kazzie Portie went up to receive his diploma he found Officer Ellison waiting for him at the end of the stage. The two received a 40 second standing ovation, caught on video by Kazzie’s older brother Blake.
Ellison claims he just did what he’d hope someone else would do for his 18 year-old daughter if he passed in a similar accident.