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Houston POU non-profit stepping in to help officer killed in train crash
FOX 26 Reporter Damali Keith spoke with the officer's widow about their latest bundle of joy and also why the HPOU is stepping in to help out.
HOUSTON - A Houston police officer who was looking forward to becoming a dad was killed in December 2022 when his wife was pregnant, before his first baby was born. Now the officer’s wife has given birth.
You may remember three days before Officer Vidal Lopez was supposed to find out the gender of his first baby, he was hit by a train and left clinging to life. That was on a Wednesday. The family was scheduled to have a huge gender reveal party that Saturday. Instead, there in his hospital bed his wife whispered their baby’s gender in his ear. Now, we get to introduce you to his baby girl.
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"No one expects being pregnant and widowed at the same time," says Officer Lopez’s widow Maritza Lopez.
Weeks after taking pictures on Thanksgiving Day and posing for photos wearing special shirts while announcing to the family they were having their first baby, and three days before Christmas, Houston Police officer Vidal Lopez was hit by a train and killed.
"Your best friend is gone, and you don’t get to say goodbye. He walked out the door and just never came back," cries the officer's widow, but part of him still lives in his only child, beautiful baby Emma, born Saturday.
"Now, I have someone to look after and that keeps me going," smiles Mrs. Lopez, who says their healthy baby is a miracle because after losing her husband she spiraled into a dark place, emotionally drained, and overcome with grief. "I wasn’t able to sleep at night. I would have nightmares of the accident, panic attacks. I wasn’t able to hold food down."
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Houston PD officer involved in train crash on Fulton St. while 'reporting to work'
**PREVIOUS COVERAGE** Vidal Lopez, 42, a senior police officer with HPD was in his personal vehicle when he was involved in a train crash and according to Chief Troy Finner is "fighting for his life."
"We want to support Vidal's wife and baby Emma. She looks just like Vidal and a great addition to our family here at the Houston Police Department," says Officer Lopez's colleague and friend, Ray Hunt.
Officer Lopez’s brothers in blue are stepping up to be father figures.
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"We want her to have a good life. We want her to be able to go to whatever college she wants to, and since this wasn’t a line of duty death, this is all going to be on his wife," Hunt explains.
"Since day one, I have felt their full support," says Mrs. Lopez.
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The Houston Police Officer’s Union non-profit assisttheofficer.com is raising money for baby Emma.
"You can click on there for Emma and 100% of what you give will go to Emma. A radio talk show host today gave $2,500. We just ask to give whatever you can. I was able to give $100," Hunt explains.
That December day when Mrs. Lopez whispered their baby’s gender to her husband she also told him, "I needed his help raising her. But even though he’s not physically here, I still think in a way he’s going to be looking out for her."
"I know he’s looking down and smiling down on Emma," Hunt says.
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Mrs. Lopez says baby Emma now has her own personal angel looking after her from Heaven.
If you’d like to give to the fallen officer’s family, visit assisttheofficer.com.