Cop sits down with elderly couple, has tea after emergency call

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk

MIDDLETON, U.K. — Emergency responders get non-emergency calls every day, but one recent one was a little different.

An elderly couple in the United Kingdom called 999, the British version of U.S. 911, because they were lonely, The Telegraph reported.

Two officers were then sent to the home of Fred and Doris Thompson to check on them, after Doris told the dispatcher that her 95-year-old husband wasn't doing well.

When they arrived, fearing that Fred had fallen, they found the pair "did not need medical attention and in fact the call had been made out of desperation," The Telegraph reported.

"What we found was a lovely elderly couple who were caring for each other, probably finding it a bit difficult to care for each other with their ailments and their age, and that were in need of a bit of company if anything,"  Police Constable Stu Ockwell said.

Fred is blind, and Doris is in poor health.

The constables sat down with the couple, had a cup of tea as Fred told them stories of World War II.

Fred said of the visit, "It's a change to have somebody to talk to, somebody different. I was very pleased," The Daily Mail reported.

Cox Media Group