Happy Police Appreciation Week! This week’s Feel-Good Friday highlights one particular act of heroism that saved lives and how one first responder who helped bring a life into the world became a part of their life and family.
Heroes and hearts of gold is the subject of this week’s Feel-Good Friday.
Chattanooga Police Officer Eli Rogers was first on scene at an apartment building that was on fire.
During a fire that took place on May 1, an officer with the Chattanooga Police Department kicked in the door and rushed into a burning building after he was notified by neighbors that there were still people inside.
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In the video, Officer Eli Rogers can be seen entering the apartment where flames are visible near the front door. He helps a mother of two by carrying one of her children to safety as she follows behind with the other child.
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Police are not trained in firefighting, but they do take an oath to serve and protect. And that is exactly what Ofc. Rogers did when he was first on the scene at a recent residential fire with flames visible by the front door.
After neighbors informed Officer Rogers that people were still inside, he immediately jumped into action rescuing two children and their mother. Luckily no injuries were reported.
Thank you Officer Rogers for your bravery and dedication to serving our community. CPD is proud to have exemplary officers like you.
Rogers may not have been trained in firefighting, but he knew exactly what to do, grabbing a fire extinguisher to push back the spread of the fire until the fire department could arrive. According to the local news, the family Rogers saved were unharmed, and no one else was injured in the fire.
Thank you, Officer Eli Rogers for your acts of bravery and service.
More Feel-Good Stories: Feel-Good Friday: Law Enforcement, First Responders Accomplish the Incredible When Allowed to Excel
Feel-Good Friday: Trailblazing Black Firefighter Gets a Fire Truck Parade for His 104th Birthday
This heartwarming story started in Colorado, when firefighter Alan Kent responded to a damsel in distress.
Alan Kent heard a woman scream as he arrived at her home in Colorado Springs. Kent, a firefighter responding to a 911 call, rushed upstairs with his team to the woman’s bedroom with an obstetric kit.
A few minutes later on that February 2004 morning, Kent helped a woman deliver a baby girl. The newborn fell into his arms.
The mother, Stacy Huddle, visited the fire station a few weeks later to introduce Kent to the baby she had named Chloe. She thanked Kent and told him she wanted him to remain a part of her daughter’s life.
Stacy Huddle’s husband Todd was also in on this deal, and Kent (and his wife) were more than delighted to be a part of their lives. They couples decided that Chloe’s birthday was the logical point of annual connection. Chloe celebrated every birthday at the Colorado Springs fire house, some years with themed parties. As Chloe entered her tween and teenage years, her themes included “Hannah Montana,” and “High School Musical.”
Kent and his wife joined Chloe and the Huddles for other milestones too: like Chloe’s graduation from high school in 2022. Lo and behold, 18 years had passed in the blink of an eye.
Chloe went off to college in Arizona, so the birthday parties were no longer a point of connection. However, in 2025, when Kent retired from the fire department, Chloe came back to Colorado to help him celebrate this life transition. In April, Chloe graduated from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor’s degree in educational studies, and Kent and his wife flew to Phoenix to watch the baby that he helped deliver, walk across the stage.
“To watch her grow from when she was delivered to where she is today and see those different stages of her throughout the years has been, you know — it’s probably one of the highlights of my career,” Kent, 62, told The Washington Post.
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In addition to her mother and father, Todd, Chloe said she found a second set of parental figures in Kent and his wife, Laura.
“They’ve always been family,” Chloe said. “And they always will be family.”
Now Chloe no longer celebrates her birthdays with Kent, but the next milestone celebration will be Chloe’s July wedding in Mesa, Arizona, where she plans to have two father-daughter dances, one with her father Todd and one with her adopted father Kent.
What a beautiful and unbreakable bond.
Editor’s Note: At RedState, it’s not all about politics and policy. We like to bring attention to what’s good in the world, with columns like “Feel-Good Friday,” “Start Your Weekend Right,” and “Hoge’s Heroes.”
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