In a series of remarkable events, a Chicago Police Department sergeant participated in a race while wearing full SWAT gear, saved a runner in distress, and then proposed marriage to his girlfriend. The extraordinary sequence unfolded at the finish line of the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15K Run, making it a day of profound significance for all involved.
Sgt. Mike Nowacki, a 19-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department and a SWAT medic, had planned to propose to his girlfriend, Chicago Police Officer Erin Gubala, who was stationed at the finish line of the 9-mile race. As he approached the end of the course, rehearsing his proposal, he heard cries for help.
“I hear people screaming, ‘medic, medic,’” Nowacki recounted at a press conference. “As a police officer, we go toward the sound of gunfire and then as a SWAT medic we also have that instinct to go toward the sound of someone calling ‘medic.’”
Gubala, hearing her boyfriend’s call sign indicating he was administering CPR, anxiously awaited news of the situation, according to Fox News.
“Before I knew it he was running at me, crossing the finish line,” she said. “He got down on one knee and I thought that he was hurt, and then he said, ‘Erin, I don’t know what to say,’ and then I realized what was going on…”
Nowacki’s proposal, “Will you marry me?” was met with Gubala’s enthusiastic, “I finally did say yes.”
“It was definitely a serendipitous moment,” Nowacki said. “Because if I had run a little bit slower or a little bit faster I never would’ve encountered the young lady,” and turning to his fiance, he added, “and then she had to say yes after that.”
The couple is planning a “simple” wedding, and Nowacki has confirmed that he will not be wearing his SWAT gear on the big day.
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