Awesome - When Pregnant Beggar Enters a Car, One Woman Start to Get Suspicious and Follows Her

A Mysterious Woman

She couldn't take her eyes off the woman. Could it be true? Was she trying to fool her all along? So many thoughts were racing through her head. Maybe she was just being lured. But, maybe she was also in danger.

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But, when the beggar agreed to sit into that car, she knew that something was wrong. She decided to go after her and find out the truth. But, little did she know that she'd discover a web of lies.





A Regular Day in Her Hometown

It was just another day for Melissa Smith and she was doing errands in her hometown of San Diego, California. Every time she went to the local grocery store, she would see the same friendly faces. But, there was also another person she knew she would come across - the panhandler.

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However, on that very day, Melissa thought something was off. She trusted her gut instinct and started investigating. While she was putting the bags into her car, Melissa saw that the beggar and her baby boy were leaving their spot. However, what happened next had Melissa reaching for her phone.




Shopping Plaza

Since the poor woman had to live on the streets, she decided to claim a good spot. During the day, she would sit in a small spot just outside the East Lake Village Center—a shopping plaza that contained restaurants, grocery stores, salons, dentists, vintage stores, florists, clothing departments, jewelry stores, and sweet shops.

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People would walk around all day long and their pockets would be full of change. The beggar knew that someone would be willing to give her some money, especially once they notice her baby bump. But, she never thought that someone would be keeping tabs on her.





Trusting Her Gut

California is known for Hollywood, impressive architecture, national parks, beautiful weather, but also for a high number of homeless people. But, sometimes, people would just pretend to be homeless and Melissa never allowed these con artists to fool her.

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But, every time she went grocery shopping, she would see the same woman. “I felt bad. There’s a pregnant lady with a little boy who is down on her luck,” she explained. But she never expected that her gut feeling would lead to a shocking revelation.
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Family Comes First

Every time she went shopping, Melissa would notice the same woman wearing stained clothes and standing in the scorching sun for hours. Usually, she was alone but, sometimes, a strange man would keep her company. Melissa assumed it was her husband.



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The woman became well-known in the area and shoppers would frequently give her sandwiches, drinks, and some change. The woman managed to stir the emotions of the public. However, an additional member would help with their collection. Melissa was unable to contain her curiosity.




So Many Questions


Melissa felt sorry for the beggar. As if being homeless wasn’t hard enough, the woman also had a family to feed. Every time she went shopping, Melissa would pass this lady. And, this lasted for two months straight.

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Melissa thought that the woman must have been so desperate to stand in the sun without any food or water for hours. To make things worse, she was also visibly pregnant. However, Melissa still thought there was something suspicious.




Coming Up With a Plan

It seemed that the pregnant woman was experienced and that she knew what to do to get everyone's attention. She was well aware that her situation would make everyone feel sorry for her. So, she came up with a perfect story - an expecting mother fights for survival with her young son.

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In addition, she would also hold a cardboard sign with “please help” scrawled across in black ink right above her bump. If the people didn't feel sorry for her or her little boy, they would feel sorry for her unborn child. Maybe the lady was telling the truth. But, Melissa wanted to make sure.






Chance

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Melissa lived close to the East Lake Village Center and she would often do her shopping before the after-school rush. But, one day, she had a craving for a fresh smoothie. It was almost closing time and the beggar was missing from her spot. Melissa felt a little bit worried and hoped that the woman was fine.

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All of a sudden, Melissa noticed that she was low on gas so she decided to stop by a gas station located right across the road. As she was stepping out of the car, Melissa noticed something unusual that would lead to an "investigation."




A Mysterious Driver

Melissa noticed the homeless lady standing at the side of the shopping complex. She was trying to get a few more pennies before finally going home. All of a sudden, a vehicle appeared around the corner and raced towards her.

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There were so many questions going through Melissa's head; who was the driver, was the beggar in trouble, and where did her little son go? But, as she observed the car for a few moments, Melissa started becoming very suspicious. Was she giving this too much though?




Man's Identity Revealed


After waiting to see what would happen next, Melissa became very confused. The driver was the beggar's partner. But, that's not what surprised her the most; it was the car he was driving.

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The man was driving a Mercedes Benz—a luxury car well-known for its high-quality leather interiors and expensive price tags. Melissa was determined to act. Little did she know that she would make the headlines.




Pictures

“They were leaving, ​and I noticed they went into a Mercedes Benz. I thought, ‘Wow, a Mercedes Benz?'” Melissa revealed. To make things worse, the car was expensive and also spotless, as if it was brand new. Without thinking, Melissa jumped into her car and started following the couple. She decided to record everything on her phone.
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When she caught up with them, they were laughing. “Lo and behold, they were in front of us. Here they are counting money, laughing. Their little boy is not in a car seat or a seat belt. He’s in the front seat with them,” Melissa explained. She was so angry and she didn't want to let them get away with this. She knew she had to notify the public. But, she had no idea what else she was about to reveal.







Caught in the Act

Melissa followed the man and woman and she was surprised to see them stop in front of another shopping center. It seems that these two had planned everything out. Then, the woman stepped out of the car and started doing her thing.

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“She sits there with the sign. He goes [and] parks the Mercedes. They put up the sign and not less than five minutes; here she is getting money from all these people,” Melissa explained. All this time she knew that there was something off with the beggar. But, little did she know that this discovery would involve the authorities. She was just scratching the surface of something much deeper.




Getting Angry

Melissa was so mad at the beggar and she started taking pictures of her and her son. Or, was he her son at all? However, the couple spotted Melissa soon. They were enraged and they started yelling and screaming at her. The woman even grabbed a huge rock.

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“Next thing I know, she picked up this big boulder,” Melissa said, “I don’t know if pregnant people can do that, but it was pretty big over her head and coming at me with this rock.” Another woman was close by and, as soon as she noticed what was going on, she decided to call the cops. This made the beggar grab the little boy and start running away. However, Melissa wasn't willing to give up yet.

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Finding out the Truth

Melissa was not willing to let these impostors get away that easily. She posted all the photos on her social media accounts and contacted the local news station. She had to make sure that the locals knew about this deception and prevent more people from giving money to the beggar.

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But, the news station was very curious and they wanted to find out if there was more to this story. So, thanks to Melissa's photos and videos, they were able to run the plates from the car. It turned out that the car was registered to a female but the address was undisclosed. And, this is just the beginning of the story about these fake paupers.




Visiting the Encinitas Heights Apartment

Soon, many journalists became obsessed with this story. They were able to trace the lady's whereabouts to Encinitas Heights Apartments. The residents of the apartment paid a monthly rent of $2,500. As soon as the word got out, magazine, radio, and paper journalists went to the address, knocked for days, but no one answered. The lights were off for days and no one entered or exited the apartment.

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Then, something else happened. A new couple moved in and the couple who lived there previously had left during the night, without any notice. Melissa was amazed by the amount of attention this story was receiving.




Going Viral

Melissa shared this shocking story online and backed everything up with pictures and videos. Many journalists contacted her to get more information and share the story themselves. “I feel bad. Don’t give these people money. They don’t need it. They’re driving a Benz,” she pleaded.

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The residents couldn't believe this. They were shocked to see that someone would use a small child and pregnancy to prey on the pity of others. A few days later, journalists would receive a phone call that made them storm to a new scene.
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Spotting the Beggar

The beggar was spotted! One young lady named Rebecca heard the story about the panhandler while driving to one shopping center. There, she recognized the woman from Melissa's videos.

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She immediately left a comment under Melissa's post and posted a picture as proof. As soon as this news reached Emily Valdez, she gathered her crew and they were on their way to the shopping center. They wouldn't let the panhandler slip away again.





Confusion

Valdez followed the tip and started searching for the woman in the shopping center. She came across several pregnant ladies but none of them were beggars. But, when she finally came across the woman from Melissa's posts, she was shocked.

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Valdez was sure that the panhandler was pregnant. But, two days after Melissa discovered the truth, this woman was in another shopping center holding a baby. But, Valdez didn't let this stop her.




Finding the Panhandler

Valdez approached the woman and pointed the microphone towards her. “Is this you, begging?” Valdez asked as the crew was recording everything. Valdez reached for her phone so she could show the beggar Melissa’s video.

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The woman stared at the phone, then at Valdez, and then she looked at the camera. “I don’ speak English,” she whispered. Her little boy tugged at her jumper. He was certainly the boy from Melissa's photos. But then, as Valdez began to follow the woman up the street, the beggar's husband showed up.




Match

“Keep the camera rolling!” Valdez said. She was willing to do anything for a good story. The man tried to keep the journalists away from his family, but they wouldn't give up. The journalists followed the family up the street, around the corner, and watched them pile into the back of a minivan. The vehicle had the dealer plates and Valdez was convinced that she caught them.

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She ran facial recognition on the woman from the video and the woman she had met that same day. She was glad to see the results; they were an 80% match. Valdez then observed the woman’s partner. There was something about his reaction that made her think there was more to uncover. And, her hunch was right.




Finding More Clues

The mysterious man said something in Spanish to Valdez. However, he whispered something to his partner in a different language. Valdez couldn't understand a word he said, but she was willing to do everything in her power to reveal that. Later on, the comment would expose the very truth this man was trying to hide.

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Valdez downloaded the footage, placed the headphones on her head, and pressed play. She listened to the words over and over again. But, she couldn't identify the language. But, she was lucky enough to receive a phone call from an expert.




Help

Leslie Albright is a retired detective and she came across Valdez’s short interview with the suspects. She was a crucial member of the San Diego Police Department during the investigation of underground crime rings. After working for 25 years, Leslie became a specialist.


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This story had Leslie thinking. She knew that she had heard that language before, but she couldn't remember where. Then, it hit her. Leslie realized that the woman was not an ordinary beggar and that this story was more sinister than it seemed.




Secrets Come Out

Valdez wasn't the only one searching for the beggar, but the rest of the Internet as well. But, they didn't have a clue that a scam was about to be exposed. There was much more to this story than any of them estimated.
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For the past few years, people started noticing a problem in their community. California was portrayed as a city of hip culture and lavish lifestyles, but there was one big problem everyone ignored, and it was getting worse by the day. One Reddit user finally wanted to expose the truth, but doing this was risky.




Identifying the Language

Leslie devoted her career to catching criminals. And, usually, beggars aren't involved in any offenses. But, the language the mysterious man was speaking made her think that there was more to this story.

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She watched Valdez's footage again and recognized the language. The man was speaking Romani and they had a common method to dismiss the press. What else was this couple hiding?




Hustle

Detective Leslie realized that the couple was involved in an organized crime ring she was investigating for years. This group started their ring right after their illegal entry into the US. Sadly, they commit crimes daily. The members of the group lived in inexpensive apartments and owned multiple vehicles. This allowed them to scam so many people.

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Leslie shared her conclusion with Valdez. The man and woman from the footage were more likely to be co-workers than couples. And, the pregnancy was just a scam. There were even more layers to this story...




Escaping the Justice

For a long time, authorities were trying to catch these perpetrators and bring them to justice. But, they were smart enough not to stay in one spot for too long. As soon as they notice that someone is onto their act, they pack their bags and flee.

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Unsurprisingly, the beggars Melissa caught on tape did the same thing. And, just when it seemed that everything was over, one man stepped in and provided some information. This could help the authorities find out more about the perpetrators.





Reddit Whistleblower

This unknown man revealed some information that even put his own life in danger. Moreover, he shared all the details on Reddit. “I had a friend of a friend tell me that they knew them and that they’re just a hustling pair of Con Artists whose families conned their way into the country.”

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But, he didn't stop there. He even claimed that the woman was forced to do all these things. The man was afraid for his safety and he deleted his profile shortly after sharing this information. What could be the consequences if his identity was revealed?




Getting To The Bottom Of It

After this, more and more information started surfacing. It turns out that the woman would often stuff her clothes with foam and pretend that she's pregnant. Thanks to the fake belly, she would earn more than $500 daily. But, she was not the only one who did this.

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When it comes to crime rings, men often lead their operations. They promise desperate women shelter and food in exchange for some work. The women are dispatched every morning and collected in the evening. Of course, the profit isn't distributed fairly. Those who run everything lead lavish lifestyles while others don't.





Threatening Phone Calls

“They’ll use the babies, children, anyway they can… the children will not go to school because their job and their future is the Family Business,” Leslie revealed later. These children usually don't receive any education and crime becomes everything they know.

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“People should know, there’s plenty of service and organizations that exist to help people and especially for women with children. They’re taking advantage of them all as well as scamming people at the parking lot entrances. Neither of them are reporting the money they’re making from her begging and both are claiming poverty to get state and federal assistance,” the anonymous Reddit user also added. But then, he started receiving threatening phone calls. Before removing all traces of himself online, the informant had one last thing to add.






Warning

“They might be up and trying this scam again or it might be another woman, either way, call the cops on them, making sure to tell the dispatch that they’re “the BMW scammers” so they’re identified and the state can start the proper deportation proceedings against them… don’t help any of them or give money to any of the panhandlers you might see.”

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The Reddit user's warning was clear. Of course, Leslie's former team is still working to catch those who run operations like this one. And, let's not forget about Melissa. Without her intuition, people would never hear the truth about these beggars. But, one question remains. If the police can't catch them, how will they be stopped?
Next - the heartwarming short story about a police officer that arrested a woman, and she pays him back in the most unexpected way




After This Police Officer Arrested Her, This Woman Paid Him Back in the Most Unexpected Way

Most of us are pretty nice people. We’re polite to strangers, we’re friendly with our colleagues, and we’re warm with the people that we care about – our friends, our family, and other loved ones. And most of us would go to great lengths to help these people and protect them from harm.

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But how far would you go to help someone you barely knew? Or even more importantly, would you come to the rescue of someone who had once arrested you? This is the story of one woman who showed unbelievable generosity in the face of her own struggles.




Jocelynn James

The late 2000s were a bad time for Jocelynn James. You could safely say that these years were the worst of her life. The native of Franklin, Alabama had gone off the rails and was involved in drugs and petty crimes, being arrested more than 15 times in five years.
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She remembers those dark days, saying "I was just living a really bad life, doing a lot of really bad things that I shouldn’t have had no business doing, and I was just a really lost person." But how did this young woman end up here?




The Story Behind Her Troubles

Life hadn't always been so bad for Jocelynn. Rather, it was a series of sad events that led her down this tragic path to addiction and crime. Things started to go wrong for her when doctors discovered that she had cancerous cells growing on her ovaries.

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She underwent surgery to remove the cells, but they continued to grow. This worrying cycle continued until she had a total of six surgeries, but in the end, a hysterectomy was the only way to completely stop the cancer from growing. Though it might stop the cancer, it would start something else for Jocelynn - something just as bad.




Her Pain

Throughout her series of surgeries, Jocelynn was in incredible pain, so the doctors had given her a prescription for opiate pain relievers. While opiates can be great for managing pain, they are also very addictive. It was this addiction that would give Jocelynn a whole new set of problems.

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Once the final surgery was finished, she was no longer eligible for the medication, but by this point, she was well and truly hooked. Without access to prescription medication, she turned to illegal methods of getting the relief she was now addicted to.




Drugs And Crime

Until this point, the Alabama woman had been living a relatively normal life. But now things began to go in a seriously bad direction. She later told reporters, “I became an IV user. I was shooting up about 16 times a day."
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If the drug problem wasn’t enough, she turned to crime to support her habit. She was committing break-ins, receiving stolen property, and was caught in possession of stolen credit cards. Between 2007 and 2012, she said, “I lost my car, lost my job, my license, my self-respect.”




The Arresting Officer

Of course, after being arrested so many times, Jocelynn became well known to the local police. And in fact, her troubled lifestyle landed her on Alabama’s “Most Wanted List”. She’d fallen a long way from the woman she once was.

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One of the police officers who had arrested her on several occasions was Terrell Potter, who recalls, "She was out running crazy, stealing and doing drugs and things she shouldn't be doing. I locked her up a couple of times." He didn't know what to do to help her - she would have to find her own way out of her spiral.





Those Troubled Years

The cycle of arrest and release continued for years, and it was hard to believe it would ever end. Terrell describes how he had seen her again and again, “She would almost make it out, but yet she would keep falling back into the same pattern. Eventually, it caught up with her.”

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Many people would hold a grudge against the police officers who had arrested them, even if they knew they were in the wrong for committing a crime. But Jocelynn now credits these arrests with finally getting her out of the hole that she had found herself in.




Her Life Turns A Corner

Strangely enough, things really began to change for Jocelynn when she found herself in jail in 2013. Although she had been arrested so many times before, it was serving a six-month sentence that was the turning point in her life. She had seen herself on TV as a "Most Wanted" in her county and said to herself, "I'm tired." She called the sheriff and turned herself in.
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Halfway through her stay, she said she found the courage to kick her drug habit. She explains, “I literally asked God to please take that urge away from me and on March 18 he delivered me. And I promise you, I have not thought about getting high since.” But would she be able to keep up her sobriety?





Staying Clean

By the time she left jail, Jocelynn was determined to make a fresh start. "I was sick of living that life, and I wanted to do something different," she said. "I'm perfect, I'm healthy, and I had no idea that I was that healthy."

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Without the addiction, it was easier for her to leave her days of drugs and criminal activity far behind her...or so she thought. Little did she know that just a few years later, she would be forced to confront her past.




The Unexpected Post

Fast forward to 2019 and Jocelynn was still clean. But one night as she was laying in bed, scrolling through Facebook, she saw a post that brought her face to face with her old life. It was from police officer Terrell Potter - the very same officer who had arrested her at some of her lowest points.

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He had since retired from the police force, but not long after his retirement, he found out some very serious news: his kidney was failing. In fact, it was only functioning at 5%. Kidney failure isn't something anyone can live with - the only option is to have it replaced.





Potter’s Struggles

In most cases, people who require a kidney transplant would ask their family. For an organ to be accepted by the body, the donor needs to be the right match, and this is more common with blood relations. Sadly for Terrell Potter, none of his relatives were found to be suitable.
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Now on the public registry, he was facing a wait of up to eight years for a transplant - a time he would probably not survive. He and his family knew they couldn't wait, and that they had to do something else if he was to survive.




They Put The Call Out

After being told that the wait for a donor would be so long, Terrell and his family set about doing things their own way. "We began praying about getting the right kidney," he said. "We were looking all over the Southeast."

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His daughter had the idea to put his story on social media, and soon the post began to spread locally. Terrell felt confident, stating, “I said I just don't feel like I'll have to wait that long. I feel like that there is something out there…” Little did he know just what was waiting for him.





Jocelynn’s Reaction

It turns out Terrell was right - there was something out there. And that something - or rather, someone - was Jocelynn James. Upon seeing the post on her Facebook, she instantly recognized the man who had arrested her numerous times during that troubled period in her life.

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Jocelynn didn’t hesitate at all. For many people, seeing this man would have brought up bad memories, but her reaction was quite different. She recalls of that day, "I just threw my phone down and the holy spirit told me right then that I had that man's kidney." But would her feeling prove correct?




Is It A Match?

While her willingness to donate a kidney was one thing, it still remained to be seen whether Jocelynn was a suitable donor or not. After visiting the hospital to go through a series of tests, the pair waited anxiously for the results.
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And it was good news – Jocelynn was a perfect match for Terrell. In fact, the doctors said they had “never had a better match for a kidney transplant.” Who would have thought that after looking far and wide, the perfect kidney would be just a few miles away?





The Transplant Takes Place

On July 21, 2019, Terrell and Jocelynn went through transplant surgery at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville. Even with the confirmation that they were a good match, there was still some risk involved, as organ donations can sometimes be rejected by the body.

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Fortunately, Terrell’s run of incredible luck continued, and there were no complications. "All the numbers were great,” he said. “It started working from the time it was put in." But how did Jocelynn feel about what she’d just been through?




Jocelynn’s Motivation

Many people still could not believe that Jocelynn would give up a kidney to someone who was practically a stranger, but had been familiar to her previously in all the wrong ways. But for her, it all made sense. After all those years of abusing her body, she was now able to put it to a very special use.

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She explained her motivation in an interview after the surgery, "God restored me from the inside out, and to be able to give another human a kidney to extend his life is really rewarding."




Part Of The Family


Of course, after going through such an unusual experience together, the pair have formed a very special bond. "It's made a great relationship and a bond between us that can go forever. There's no doubt about that," Terrell admits. “Her giving me a kidney, it extended my life.”
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He also said that he considers her to be one of his daughters, declaring, “I feel like she's one of my girls. I had two daughters and I feel like she's just one of them.” A far cry from throwing her in a jail cell!




Being Accepted

So how does Jocelynn feel about this new extended family? She was just as full of praise, stating, “I love him, I love his wife. And his daughter, and it's so unexplainable. Like you can't. You can't explain it.”

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Being told that Terrell considered her to be like one of his own daughters was also something of a special feeling for Jocelynn, who revealed, “I don't have a father figure in my life. So I just think it's pretty awesome.” About her, Terrell added, "See, you don’t just throw people away. When people make mistakes and they do things that aren’t right and everything, we’re too quick a lot of times to judge people..."





More Good Deeds

You probably think that donating a kidney is the only good deed that anyone would ever need to do, but it turns out that Jocelynn has been giving back to the community since she set her own life back on the straight and narrow.

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She runs a non-profit organization called Place of Grace. Based on her own struggles with opioids and rehabilitation, she helps people battling an addiction to get help and counseling, and eventually to get them into treatment centers.




An Inspiration To Others

The course of Jocelynn's life has been an unusual one, filled with many ups and downs. From her descent into addiction and criminal behavior, to her rehabilitation, and of course her incredibly generous deed for officer Terrell Potter.
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And along the way she's not only helped herself but helped so many others. "I want people to realize that there is help out there for them," she says. "It doesn't matter what happens in your life. You can always turn it around."

Jocelynn and Terrell's is just one of so many inspiring stories of people helping each other in unexpected ways. Just like how Terrell's job as a police officer helped Jocelynn get back on the straight and narrow, the story of Officer Zimmerman and Andrella Jackson shows how one person going the extra mile for another can change lives.