Officer Nick Struck has been branded a hero after singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ to distract the two-year-old at the harrowing scene
A police officer who distracted a two-year-old girl at the scene of a fatal crash that killed her father sang lullabies to the toddler, it has emerged.
Officer Nick Struck was branded a hero after a photograph of him comforting the tragic young crash survivor went viral.
The officer has since revealed he sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, which he often sings to his own daughter, to comfort the distressed child at the heartbreaking crash site.
He was one of the first on the scene after an SUV carrying two adults and four children left the road and rolled down an embankment in Brighton, Colorado.
All six passengers were thrown out of the vehicle, with authorities later stating that none had been “properly restrained”.
Officer Struck, who has a two-year-old daughter himself, looked after the little girl while emergency services worked frantically to treat the other victims.
One man, understood to be the girl’s father, died at the scene.
A woman and another child were flown to hospital by air ambulance, while the three other children were driven to hospitals by ambulance.
Speaking to 9News, Officer Struck said: “When you hear that there’s children involved, I’ll tell you what, everyone that responds to that scene, you get that pit in your stomach.
“The first thing we do when we get on scene is we just try to, if we can, comfort anybody, of course we’re going to go to the kids.”
In the emotional interview, the officer described how he sang the girl “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, a lullably he often sings to his own daughter.
He said: “I have a two-year-old daughter and she’s my first kid. So, of course, your first thought is that could be your little daughter.
“I’m not a medical person, but I know how to give a hug to somebody, and you better believe every one of those officers on scene would do the same thing.”
An image of the poignant scene was captured by an eyewitness and quickly went viral after it was shared online.
Brighton Police Department also praised the officer for his work in what was a tragic and harrowing incident.
They wrote on their Facebook page: “We are extremely proud of the men and women of our department! Good work, Officer Struck!”
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