Police officer adopts boy he rescued from severe child abuse

Back in 2015 Police Officer Jody Thompson from Poteau, Oklahoma responded to a child abuse call as he was pulling into work.

Although he wasn't on duty at the time, Thompson had experience of dealing with child abuse cases, due to his time at the district attorneys office where he dealt with dozens of similar instances.

Little did he know that the child at the centre of this investigation would one day become his son.

Speaking toCBS News, Thompson said:

I've investigated child abuse cases before. I thought I'd better go ahead and respond

Arriving at the scene, Thompson was shocked to discover a severely underweight 8-year-old boy, submerged in a bin of cold water, bound by his wrists and covered in bruises.

He did not have a spot on his body that didn't have a bruise or abrasion. It was the worst thing I've ever seen.

After covering the boy, named John, with a blanket, Thompson took him to the Oklahoma Children's Advocacy Centre so detectives could take photos of the abuse.

Shortly afterwards, Thompson drove John to the hospital and waited with him all day. From that moment on he realised that he wanted to take care of him for the rest of his life.

I sat with him and when he was admitted into the intensive care unit, I sat all night until the next day. When I'd seen him in that house shivering and his hands tied -- just soaking wet and confused -- I knew at that moment the only time I would be satisfied and sure that he was safe is if he was with me.

The very next day Thompson contacted the child fostering services and became a certified foster parent. He and John went to their home on 30 April 2015.

At the time, I had a 15-year-old son and an 8-year-old son. When I brought John home I didn't tell them or my wife. Everyone knew... they trusted I was doing the right thing before they even knew what happened and heard the story.

This inspiring act has drawn an overwhelming response from Twitter users moved by Thompson's compassion.

Just when you thought the story couldn't get any better the Thompsons were asked if they would like to adopt John's newly born sister Paizly.

John and Paizly's mother was in prison where Paizly was born. The Thompsons didn't hesitate for a minute.

We literally picked her up in the hospital the next day when she was a day old and brought her straight home. Never in my life did I dream of having a large family, but God had different plans and so here we are. And I'm loving it all.

Although John's biological parents, who are both awaiting criminal trails, had relinquished their parental rights to their son, they refused to do so for their daughter, which lead to a jury trail, where John himself testified on his new family's behalf. It wasn't until Feburary 2017, that the Thompson's were officially allowed to adopt their little girl, Paizley.

John is now progressing incredibly well as a student and has now decided to share his story in the hope of helping other victims of abuse.

John is amazing. He's a straight-A student, on the honour roll, in the gifted and talented program, involved in the local drama club. That kid's very resilient. He bounced back from this. We went through something bad, but we're not going got let it define who were are. We're not going to let this hold us back. Always have compassion, you never know what you're going to walk into.

Earlier this week, Thompson's actions were recognised by the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations when he received a certificate of commendation, with John stood by his side whilst he accepted the accolade.

The Poteau Police Department posted the following statement on Facebook in praise of Thompson and his family.

HT CBS News 5 news online

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