RAVENNA, Ohio — A reunion that’s been six years in the making happened after Heather Tuttle was stopped for a traffic violation.

“July 12, 2018 was the first night since I brought my daughter home and nothing I did was to stop her from screaming, so I decided to go for a ride with her,” Tuttle explained.

Tuttle said he walked around the same block multiple times to try to stop the baby from crying. He said he passed Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. almost a dozen times before Charles Hoskin stopped him for a lane violation; He said he was happy to be stopped at that point.

“If someone had asked what was wrong, if someone had seen if I was okay, and if someone had cared enough to see if I was okay,” Tuttle added.

The single mother was not well; The new mother was struggling with postpartum depression.

“My postpartum struggle that night could have ended very differently, with me dying or Jennavieve dying, or both of us dying,” Tuttle explained.

But the single mother said that night didn’t have a tragic ending, thanks to Hoskin and the words he said to her.
When Hoskin walked to the car, Tuttle was crying and the baby was crying too.

“I’ll never forget him looking at me and saying, ‘It’s okay to walk away sometimes,'” Tuttle said.

She went home, handed her daughter over to her mother and took a break.

Six years into the traffic stop, Tuttle went to the Ravenna Ohio State Highway Patrol Station.

“I received an email from my lieutenant outlining the story; I called him and said sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hoskin said.

It’s hard for the soldier to remember the interaction that meant so much to Tuttle.

“We’re not always bad people, I was honest with him that night, I was honest with him. I have a few kids myself, I’ve probably told my wife the same thing a few times,” Hoskin said.

Hoskin met Tuttle’s daughter for the first time. He gave her a bag filled with a stuffed animal, sunglasses and more.

On Monday, the three of them returned to where it all began. A dark night gives way to a bright future for a mother and her daughter, thanks to the compassion of a state trooper.

“I never expected that by having a simple conversation on the side of the road, offering some fatherly advice, I would save two people’s lives,” Hoskin said.

Tuttle is telling her story to help other women struggling with postpartum depression. If her story helps a mother get the help she needs, it’s worth it, she said.