SEPTA officer helps lost passenger battling dementia reunite with family | Heroes on the Frontline
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A ride on SEPTA went off-track when an elderly man battling dementia suddenly became disoriented at Broad and Olney streets.
Despite his outdated identification, a quick-thinking transit officer turned to social media for help.
In never-before-seen body cam footage, the officer tracks down his family for a heartwarming reunion.
"Are you okay sir?" the officer asked.
On the mezzanine platform of the Olney Transportation Center in Philadelphia sat a disoriented Herbert Connelly.
"Are you looking to go home?" the officer can be heard asking Connelly.
"Yes," Connelly replied.
The 87-year-old had gotten turned around while using public transportation.
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That's when Officer Shana Albright and her partner, Joe McMorrow, immediately worked to reunite him with this family.
"Someone alerted us and said this guy was sitting here for a while, and he seemed to be lost," said Albright.
With the transportation center being busy, and given that Connelly was already disoriented along with the hustle and bustle, Action News asked Albright whether these factors exacerbated the situation.
"It was, because he doesn't even remember how he got here. He kept telling us one address he had to go to, but then another address was different," Albright answered.
Albright quickly realized Connelly had dementia and had an idea to get him home.
"Surprisingly he had a Facebook. That's when I saw his account, and that he had family members. So, everyone that had the same last name -- it was about five people -- I contacted. I inboxed them," said Albright.
After a couple of minutes, Albright connected with Connelly's son in Atlanta, who then linked her with his sister in Germantown.
Connelly's daughter didn't want to go on camera, but says her dad is a retired SEPTA bus driver who suffers from memory loss. She said he was likely heading to see her on public transit.
In less than an hour, the pair were reunited. Albright received a commendation for her work.
"This is somebody's father, this is somebody's grandpops. If this was my grandpop I would want someone to help him, especially being at Broad and Olney," she said. "I can only imagine what she was going through, what she was thinking trying to find her father."
