While attempting to arrest three serial robbers, Fort Worth, Texas police Officer Garrett Hull was shot and killed on September 14, 2018. The 17-year police veteran was serving as he always did, with his brothers/sisters in blue and on behalf of those he didn’t even know. By nature, cops are giving individuals; committing to do a job in which you may lose yours by laying it down for another is beyond giving and noble. Each cop brings special things to the table of life. Garrett Hull, known as the “cement of the unit,” epitomized it well and displayed his character traits to make General Patton blush.
In life and in death, Hull’s iconic sharing nature was punctuated when, after he was shot in the head and rushed to the hospital where his prognosis was looking rather bleak, he did his thing one more time: organ donation.
Hull’s wishes were to donate his organs in the event of his death. Organ recipient lists are ordinarily vast and organ donors are extraordinarily humanistic by giving perfect strangers a chance at life when theirs is meeting crossover.
As Hull was at the hospital with medical professionals scrambling to sustain his warriorhood to no avail, his life-restoring organs were harvested while his brothers/sisters in blue stood at attention out in the hospital hallway. The following image, along with a heartfelt message, depicts not only the heroism but also the humanism among law enforcement officers.
“The Brotherhood…I took this picture as Officer Hull was preparing to serve once again, this time as an organ donor. The silence was almost deafening until the command was given to stand at attention. In that moment you could’ve heard a pin drop. As I stood in the waiting area at attention I wanted to break down and mourn with my fellow officers but knew I couldn’t. I never had the opportunity to meet this Warrior or shake his hand but I know that we will meet again someday.” That was written/posted by Drew Bri and the accompanying image was recorded at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas.
Hull was known as a cops’ cop, one who lent a hand whenever it was summoned and even when it was not. Many spoke of Hull as the go-to guy when the chips were down and things were about to get dirty. Leadership qualities is what I kept finding on this guy. And in his quiet demeanor, he influenced many others who ultimately emulated the way Hull did The Job.
From The Blue Voice site, we resonate with the following sentiments attesting to mourning a brother in blue: “A city Lays to rest one of its fallen Warriors today. Fitting that the rain is falling almost as if the Fort Worth skies are mourning as well. This will be the first Dallas or Fort Worth Officer funeral I cant attend due to it being private to family and LEOs only and I am out of the business. However I will drive in the procession with my K9 Radar, so I can at least pay my respects that way. Prayers for my bother and sister FWPD who I know have been hurting and are struggling with this day.”
That statement stemmed from Officer Hull’s police funeral service which took place today in Fort Worth as many mourners got to bid farewell to a gladiator among gladiators. One by one, family and police colleagues attested to the always giving, always there policeman Officer Hull personified. In response, the proverbial sea of blue brought by a caravan of black-and-whites epitomized the thin blue line.
From what I understand, this particular police funeral was closed to the public and attended by only Officer Hull’s family and law enforcement officers. Ordinarily, police funerals are open to everyone. For whatever reason, Hull’s send-off services were open to/displayed by the public online. I suspect his family decided to honor Hull’s steadfast philosophy that whatever was going on, it was “a little too much.” Sounds like a modest man who desired no fanfare, only results…before moving on to the next call. I definitely relate to that modesty, I certainly preferred cloaking to the next call for service.
Having attended a sad and somber fair share of police funerals, one thing always remained in mind when the bagpipes deflated, the 21-gun salute reverberated to a silence, the fly-bys whizzed and faded, and the buffet of badges scuttled meekly to their squad cars: the idyllic notion that the fight must maintain its thrust despite a fallen brother or sister being lowered in the earth.
As Fort Worth police Officer Matt Pearce succinctly delineated how cops feel during the aftermath of a fallen officer, “As I sit here on the edge of my bed putting on my uniform just like have so many times in the last ten years, tears start filling my eyes because today is different. Today I will wear my uniform to bury my friend and coworker Garrett Hull. While I know this is not the last time I will do this in my career I never expected the emotions that have filled my body this last week.”
I admire Officer Hull’s organ donation prescience. It speaks volumes about a man, any human, who exercises the forethought and wherewithal to offer up his bodily parts. As a cop, I’ve experienced the rather less-than-subtle pace when on crash traffic scenes whereby an individual did not make it, the expedience was eerily palpable yet bittersweet when one consumes the reason for the pedal press.
Conversely, some police officials decide to donate an organ deemed non-essential to their own sustenance while gifting another whose outlook is certainly must-have, bleak, circumstantially dismal. A civilian law enforcement colleague of mine, a dispatcher named Jose Rincon, did just that. He learned about a perfect stranger who needed a kidney to live. She had children whereas Jose did not. He put his name on the donor list, was summoned for testing, and was chosen as the official donor.
Years later, Jose left the police profession to endeavor in various other roles which took him around the globe. I like to think that was a Heavenly gift as reward for the one he gave to another.
It is not often publicized —I have no idea why other than privacy rights— but cops are prone to be organ donors. Witnessing the unraveling of lives and being on the front lines to help put it all back together in a tight and tidy fashion on the streets manifests in pre-determined organ donations to other cops and citizens alike.
Per Fort Worth police Chief Joel Fitzgerald while eulogizing his comrade, Officer Garrett Hull is posthumously promoted to police corporal. The final call concluded in this fashion with the words posted by the Fort Worth Police Department Family Association: “On September 14th Officer Garrett Hull heard the voice of the Lord saying ‘I need a Fort Worth Police Officer, whom shall I send for?’ Officer Garrett Hull answered ‘Here I am. Send me Lord!’”
