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Wife of fallen Utah officer helps other law enforcement families cope with loss

Posted at 10:18 PM, Jul 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-09 00:18:21-04

SALT LAKE CITY - Not many can understand the pain the families of fallen officers in Dallas feel after a gunman killed five officers and wounded a handful of others Thursday.

But Nannette Wride knows what they are going through. Wride lost her husband, Sergeant Cory Wride of the Utah County Sheriff's Department, in January of 2014.

"He pulled up behind a vehicle with its flashers on," Wride said. "He went to assist them. Long story short, they ambushed him and he took two fatal shots."

Wride said it was difficult to move on after her husband's death.

"I couldn't breathe, I couldn't eat," she said.

Fortunately, help was on the way. Four months before she lost her husband, Sergeant Derek Johnson was slain in a similar incident. Johnson's widow reached out to Wride's widow in the aftermath of the funeral.

"She was so bubbly, and so full of life," Wride remembers. "I thought, 'If she can last for four months, I can too.'"

Not only did she survive, Wride went on to create something that will hopefully help widows of fallen officers across the country for years to come. Wride created the Blue Haven Foundation in hopes of reaching out to families who have recently lost a husband or father in the line of duty.

"We want to be there to hold their hand and tell them it's going to be OK," she said.

Wride says the Blue Haven Foundation helps widows both emotionally and financially.