Tulsa Police Officers Surprise Deaf Brothers With Fishing Rods

Tuesday, June 14th 2016, 6:07 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa police officers reached into their own pockets to buy two young deaf boys fishing rods.

Cell phone video shows Tulsa Police Officer Adam Ashley teaching a teen and his younger brother how to set up and use a fishing rod.

What makes the moment even more special is the brothers can't hear anything.

"We realized they were deaf, we also realized they were Spanish-speaking deaf only,” Ashley said.

Ashley and Officer Tempest Thorpe were responding to a call at the boys' house and had to figure out how to communicate with the family, who were all deaf.

Thorpe said she pulled out her phone for help.

"I told the people we were dealing with, ‘Hey, you can type in Spanish and I'll still understand.’ I just copy and pasted in Google translate and problem solved," she said.

While there, they noticed the boys playing with fishing reels.

Ashley said, "That’s when I started asking ‘where is your rod’ and he said, ‘we don't have enough money for a rod.’"

They left - but knew they'd be back, surprising the boys with fishing rods and a casting lesson the next day.

"It all had to be pantomimed,” Ashley said. “I was talking to them and she would just look at me and smile, so we pantomimed."

The officers don’t feel like they did anything out of the ordinary, saying there are moments like this happening every day in our community.

Ashley said, "Other officers buy groceries for homeless people. Other officers I know have even given a car to a family who needed it."

Ashley said he now has the Google translator app downloaded on his cell phone, and Thorpe said she learned a thing or two about fishing.