Olivia Norman is blind and she relies on her dog, Tofu, to get around in D.C.’s Cleveland Park neighborhood. Heavy rain and construction on Connecticut Avenue left her disoriented and unsure how to get home one night in September.
“I couldn’t figure out where the crosswalk was to get across the street, and as I was trying to figure it out, it decided to pour with rain,” she said. “[…] I was like, this is not safe.”
News4 was there on Tuesday when Norman was able to thank the officer and 911 call taker who helped her.
The night that Norman needed help, she called 311 and got transferred to 911.
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“I kept apologizing for bothering her,” she recalled. “I’m so sorry to be using city resources, but I don’t really know where I am. I’m lost. I just need to get home.”
Lamaya Wade answered Norman’s call that night. She had only been a 911 call taker for a few months.
“She was actually pretty calm. She just kept saying she was lost and this was her first time calling, and I was just reassuring her, ‘OK, I’ll stay on the phone,’” Wade said.
Wade talked with Norman until Officer Michael Jankowski arrived.
“It was raining pretty bad. She seemed to be in a little bit of distress, but she was very nice, very appreciative,” he said.
Jankowski introduced himself, put Tofu in the back seat and drove them both home.
Wade and Jankowski said they want people in D.C. to take the same lesson from Norman’s experience.
“It's OK to call 911. We're here to help,” Wade said.
“We want people to call 911 and feel comfortable calling 911, and any one of my coworkers would have done the same. We're happy to help,” Jankowski said.
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Norman said she shared her story for another reason.
“A lot of times you only hear bad things about the police or when they do something wrong,” she said. “There's not enough of our first responders doing things right, and they do way more things right than they do wrong, and that needs to be publicized and showcased. So, I'm glad that I can do that.”
