Walker Hughes is a gentle, 33-year-old man with autism. At 6 feet, 3 inches, he’s a big guy who has difficulty verbalizing his thoughts. Earlier this year, he became violent towards his parents after taking new medicine. They rushed him to the emergency room and on the way, Walker bit his mother’s hand, drawing blood. He was quickly surrounded by public safety officers in bulletproof vests. 

One of those men was Sergeant Keith Miller. Walker Hughes’ mother, Ellen Hughes, said Miller “worked a miracle for my son that I’ll never forget.” 

At the StoryCorps booth in Chicago, Ellen Hughes, sat with Sgt. Miller and recalled how things unfolded that day.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him @chicagoan.

Special thanks to Mary Schmich who first wrote about Ellen and Keith in the Chicago Tribune.