While it isn’t too much of a shock that the Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a small town in Donegal has decided to adopt Peru as their team for the games in Russia.

It wasn’t just Team USA who shockingly failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Other countries who surprisingly didn’t make it to Russia include the likes of Italy, The Netherlands, and Chile, to name a few.

This makes it even more surprising that the people of Rathmullan decided to choose Peru as their team ahead of the likes of Brazil, Argentina, and Germany. Heck, they even decided against British neighbors, England.

As a result, the Rathmullanites have traded in the traditional Irish green for La Blanquirroja, otherwise known as the white and red of Peru. Despite losing to Denmark in their opening game, the people of Rathmullan are optimistic about their adopted South American nation.

“Peru were nervous in that first game against Denmark,” parish priest Fr Martin Collum said. “We’re now playing France. The only thing is Peru are a bit like Ireland – they are better off as underdogs so I think they are in with a good chance.”

However, there may be a more logical reason as to why Rathmullan is supporting Peru in the World Cup. Father Collum actually worked in the South American country as a missionary for nearly 15 years. After Mass one day, the priest spoke with the chairman of Rathmullan Celtic, Cormac Fegan, and told him that he was planning on supporting Peru. After he invited some friends to watch the games with him, the entire town ended up joining the Peru bandwagon.

“It is absolutely fantastic. At first, we said we’ll meet together and watch the match and get a few jerseys. A little seed was sown and off it took,” he said. “Even the altar servers at Mass wanted their uniforms changed to red and white for the duration of the World Cup.”

Not only did the new fans sing Peru’s national anthem. they even ate Papa a la Huancaina before the game against Denmark, the traditional potato dish of Peru.

One man was minding his own business when all of a sudden, he noticed a cop car driving closely behind him. He was in store for a very unlikely encounter…

William was enjoying a casual drive when a police officer pulled him over. The young man didn’t understand what he had done wrong and asked the cop why he had stopped him. The cop came over, looked at the man behind the wheel and then to the dashboard. Then they had an unexpected interaction…

Looking in the rearview mirror, William had noticed the red, white and blue lights flashing from the car behind him. Followed by the classic siren, he knew for sure that it was a police car that was following him. He was so confused. It wasn’t like he was speeding or doing anything dangerous. Nevertheless, he listened to what the police officer was about to say…

It made no sense to William. He had never been pulled over in his life. So why was a cop trying to stop him now? Despite being frustrated with his decision, William was a law-abiding citizen who followed the cop’s orders. He pulled over to the side of street, sat patiently, and waited for the officer to come over and speak with him. It felt like an eternity as he waited for the cop to finally show up and ask him questions…

As the cop approached, William opened the window and the two greeted each other. Then, the young man asked the officer why he was pulling him over. He went on to ask if he had been speeding. “Good morning officer, was I speeding?” he asked. Again, it felt like forever before the officer finally gave him an answer. He seemed to be taking his sweet time, and wasn’t in a rush to arrest William. Then, he answered his question…

Much to William’s surprise, the police officer told him that he hadn’t pulled him over for speeding. After all, he wasn’t. “Good morning,” the cop said. “No, not speeding.” In fact, he went on to explain that he didn’t have any particular reason to pull him over. Naturally, William found his behavior very strange and for a few seconds, there was an awkward silence between the two. Then, the officer went on to say something that completely took William by surprise…

The cop went on to say that he simply wanted to pull over William so that he could thank him for his service. “Just wanted to stop you and say thank you for your service,” he said. This begs the question: what kind of service was the officer thanking William for. Secondly, how did he know that William had done any kind of service? The young man had no idea how the cop would know anything about him. Then it hit him…

At that point, William realized that he had a bumper sticker plastered on the back of his pickup truck, which clearly indicated that he has served in the U.S. army. As soon as he noticed this, William gave a warm reaction after the officer thanked him. “Oooh the bumper sticker, nice. You’re welcome sir,” William said. “My pleasure.” However, that was just the start of this strange encounter, and the cop asked him a couple of questions…

Instead of letting William drive along to get on with his day, the police officer wanted to know more about him. In particular, he wanted to know where he had served. “Where did you serve?” he asked. At first, William was skeptical about why the cop was asking him these questions. After all, it wasn’t every day that he got pulled over to be interrogated about his army service. After a couple of seconds, he came up with an answer…

Eventually, William answered the cop’s question, telling him that he was once a heavy wheeled vehicle operator, who had recently returned from his service in Iraq. “I went to Iraq,” he said. “Did a 15 monther out of Fort Benning.” All he wanted to do was resume his everyday life, and now he was getting pulled over because of it. However, there was a very good reason why the cop was curious about William’s service in Iraq…

At this point, the police officer revealed to William that his son also served in Iraq in recent times. “Well alright. My son went to Iraq,” he said. This was the main reason why he decided to pull over the young man. He wanted to learn a bit about another person who had shared a similar experience to his son. Then, he shared another detail about his son’s experience in Iraq that added a new layer of significance to this story…

It was at this stage in the conversation that the cop said something that completely shook William to his core. After his son went away to serve in Iraq, he never came back home. He died during his service. “He didn’t make it home,” the cop said, while beginning to tear up and struggling to say anything else. It was a truly sad moment. All that William could do was stand there and listen to him…

There was no denying that William felt terrible for the police officer. Here he was, enjoying his life after returning from Iraq, while this cop had lost his son on the battlefield. All the veteran could do was express his condolences for the grieving father. “Man, I’m so sorry to hear that,” William said. Then, as the cop picked himself up again and was about to move on with his day, he noticed something on William’s dashboard…

As the cop lifted his head up and planned to let William get on with his day, he noticed something resting on his dashboard. It was an American flag that was deliberately folded. “I see you have a flag in the truck,” he said. Folding the flag is an army custom that honors the fallen soldiers that have fought for America. There was a very good reason why the cop took notice of that folded American flag…

As soon as he saw the folded flag on William’s dashboard, it reminded him of the folded flag he had at home. The army gave it to him in memory of his fallen son. “The one we got for him! Well it’s at the house,” he said. It was at this point that the police officer made a strange request for William. “Can I ask a question?” he asked, to which William wholeheartedly obliged. However, the question completely took him aback…

On this spring morning, William woke up early and decided that he wanted to take his pickup truck out for a little spin. He had a day off and the world was truly his oyster. He loved the freedom of driving down a quiet New York street, with no traffic getting in the way. That was when he looked at the reflection in the mirror and noticed that a car was following him.

At that very moment, the cop asked William if he could step outside of his pickup truck and give him a hug. “Do you mind stepping out and receiving a hug?” the officer asked him. At first, William found the request a little surprising. It’s not every day that a police officer pulls someone over to ask them for a hug. However, this was no ordinary situation. After asking him that question, the cop broke into tears and said something very powerful…

Tears began to stream down the police officer’s face as he completely opened up to William. He reminded the cop of his son and this is ultimately why he pulled him over in the first place. “You remind me of my son. I pulled you over,” he said. “Thought you were him. I still don’t believe it most days he’s gone.” All William needed to do now was give the poor man what he wanted – a hug…

At this point, William also started to cry. As he stepped out of the pickup truck, he opened up his arms and “hugged that man.” “With tears in both our eyes I got out and hugged that man,” William said. After so much pain and time spent on the battlefield, William was humbled to share a soft, warm embrace with another person. It might’ve been someone who he had never met before, but it took nothing away from how much it meant to him…

As they hugged each other, both men broke down in tears. A police officer and a war veteran, having a genuine heart-to-heart. In fact, the emotional embrace lasted a good few minutes. “I’m talking about for a minute or two crying,” William said. “Down to our knees crying.” While it might seem like it was the cop who wanted this hug the most, there was no denying that William also needed this, and for a very good reason…

While he didn’t know it at the time, William admitted that he really did need that hug. This is because, like many war veterans, he had just completed a PTSD program. The program helped him rehabilitate and transition back into everyday life after facing such harsh conditions in Iraq. “I just finished a PTSD program,” William told the cop. This seemed to the be final thing that William needed to move on and start the next chapter in his life…

A few weeks after the beautiful encounter, William decided to share the story on his Facebook page, describing exactly how it went down. By the end of the message though, it was clear that William had learned a lot after being pulled over by that cop. “To all the family and friends of soldiers, fighting or done fighting, God bless you. Your peace and your hearts,” he wrote. “It’s so hard without them, I know. This road is a tremendous one. Love to all.”

It didn’t take long before the post traveled far and wide across the internet and through “Love What Matters,” it received over 48,000 reactions. Many people who had lost loved ones who served could relate to the cop’s situation. “I lost my son in Iraq May 3 2004. He was only 26,” one person wrote. “Not a day goes by I don’t miss and love him. I wonder what he would be like now, I miss him so much.” Unlike so many others, William was given a second chance…

Since that life-changing encounter, William’s life has gone in some exciting directions. Most notably, he ended up having a daughter, who he loves dearly. Hearing the cop’s story hit home just how cheap life can be and how we should always value the time we have with our loved ones, including our children. William now has the chance to give his little girl a good upbringing and help her embrace what it means to be a proud American.