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This photo of Jefferson County sheriff's Deputy Ric Lindley captured hearts nationwide, and reached nearly 561,000 people on Facebook.
(Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Gulf Shores Police Department)
Jefferson County sheriff's Deputy Ric Lindley loves kids.
His kids. His grandkids. Other people's kids. All kids, really. That was abundantly clear when a picture surfaced of him holding a baby girl following a traffic crash on Interstate 20 near Leeds on Tuesday morning.
Much to his surprise, that photo captured hearts nationwide and, within hours, was been shared thousands of times on social media, and made its way all the way to Hawaii. The photo reached nearly 561,000 people on the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Facebook page alone, not counting Twitter.
The 60-year-old former U.S. Army Green Beret doesn't mind the attention, he just doesn't really understand it. "I did nothing heroic,'' Lindley said. "All I did was hold a baby."
Lindley was on patrol Tuesday morning monitoring rush-hour traffic along I-20 when he pulled out into the westbound lanes and came upon a traffic jam. "It was at an absolute dead stop,'' he said. Lindley turned on his lights and siren, moved to the emergency vehicle lane and drove about 50 yards until he came upon a crash involving an ambulance, an 18-wheeler, and three vehicles.
He and his partner, Deputy Tim Sanford, were the first two lawmen on the scene. They blocked off traffic and checked on all those involved in the crash. "If they were hurt, we gave aid as much as we could,'' he said.
About 30 yards away, Lindley spotted a young mother leaning against her car with an infant in her arms. "I asked if she was OK,'' he said. "She was pretty well shaken up, so I asked her if I could hold the baby."
"The baby was fine because she had been buckled in a car seat, but she was upset to start with,'' Lindley said. "After I held her and walked a bit, she quieted down. I recalled my days as a young father, and young grandfather, and I put those skills to work and calmed the baby down. She had a very sweet little personality."
He handed the baby girl off to Deputy Sanford for a few moments, and then took her back in his arms. That's when Sanford snapped the now-viral photo. "I held her for a good while, at least an hour and a half,'' he said. "I wanted to give her mother time to regain her composure. She's a young mother, and this was probably extremely traumatic for her. She was having a rough time from an emotion standpoint."
Lindley has three grown sons and seven grandchildren. "If I had the money, I'd have 100 kids,'' he said. "I love kids."
He has served as a sheriff's deputy for 10 years, and is a retired U.S. Army medical officer. He doesn't understand the fuss. "I'm just a man. I'm not better or worse than anyone else,'' he said. "I'm just a Dad and a grandfather. That's about it."
Sheriff Mike Hale said he's proud of all of the 500 deputy sheriffs and support staff that go out every day to serve and protect the community. "I have said many times I wished somehow everyone knew how good they really were,'' he said. "This deputy is part of the family I'm referring to and we are especially proud of the recognition he is getting today for this simple act of care and kindness."
Chief Deputy Randy Christian said the attention is well-deserved. "That kind of work doesn't come through training, it comes from the heart and the kind of person you are,'' Christian said. "Great heart and character are the kinds of things we look for when recruiting. We certainly got it right on this one."