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'I know what it feels like to be hungry': Muskegon officer gives his sandwich to man during wellness call

Body camera footage captures the moment a Muskegon officer transforms a wellness check into a meaningful act of kindness
'I know what it feels like to be hungry': Muskegon officer gives his sandwich to man during wellness call
'I know what it feels like to be hungry': Muskegon officer gives his sandwich to man during wellness call
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MUSKEGON, Mich. — A Muskegon police officer's act of kindness was caught on camera when he gave his own meal to a hungry man during a wellness check.

WATCH: 'I know what it feels like to be hungry': Muskegon officer gives his sandwich to man during wellness call

'I know what it feels like to be hungry': Muskegon officer gives his sandwich to man during wellness call

Officer Nikolas Walsh responded to a call at the corner of Pine Street and Apple Avenue after a man contacted dispatch saying he was hungry and thirsty.

Walsh explained Dispatch had a hard time understanding the man over the phone.

"Couple of statements he made was that he was hungry, he was thirsty, didn't know really where he was at," Walsh said.

When Walsh arrived at the scene, he had just purchased a Jimmy John's sandwich for himself but decided to offer it to the man instead.

"I only took two bites off of this. If you want it you can have it," Walsh can be heard saying on body camera footage.

The officer also gave the man what was left of his drink.

"He was happy about it, and that, to him, made his day. That's all he was asking for, just some food," Walsh said.

Walsh said he wasn't looking for recognition for this gesture.

"I know what it feels like to be hungry at some time," Walsh said. "So, you know, when someone says they're hungry, it kind of hit home. So I was like, I have something for him. So that's what I gave him."

Coming from what he described as a "rough background," Walsh says moments like these remind him why he joined the police force — to serve the community and provide simple human connection.

"This job is to relate, to humanize," Walsh said. "The job is to provide empathy, sympathy to the community, to provide support, understand that you know, they're just as human as we are."

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