Jefferson Parish deputy wins trip to Ireland for heroic acts

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METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) — Eric Blandford, a Jefferson Parish deputy met his fiance, Regina Lennox at the Irish House on St. Charles Avenue three years ago. They are both Irish and are engaged to be wed next month, but to Regina, Eric is more than just her fiance, he’s her role model.

So when Aer Lingus held a contest for their “Smart Flies Business Class cabin,” competition to win a free round trip all expenses paid vacation to Ireland, Regina didn’t think twice about entering her beloved Eric.

“It’s easy for me to talk about how great Eric is,” remarked Regina.

Eric is a deputy sheriff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He’s been an officer for 15 years, and he has helped hundreds of people by performing search and rescue during three hurricanes, one of which was Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of entries piled in, but Regina’s submission stood out due to her heart-warming story.

Thousands of entries piled in, but Regina’s submission stood out due to her heart-warming story.

“I was dispatched to a call of what they call suspicious people possibly trying to steal from behind a Wal-mart,” Eric recalled, “and when I showed up it was actually some young children and they were fishing with some homemade fishing gear, like a ball of yarn and paper clip bent with a worm on the end of it. I could tell they didn’t come from a lot of money, and I didn’t want to tell them someone called because they thought they were breaking into a business,” said Eric.

Eric went into Wal-mart and got the kids real fishing gear and sent them on their way. Regina saw the charges on their bank statement and questioned Eric for buying more fishing gear, but when she learned of what he had done, she submitted him to the “Role Model” contest instead.

“Those kids could’ve gotten into trouble, they could have done a lot of things with their day, and instead, they had a great day with real fishing equipment and they have a very positive view of the police from that experience,” said Regina.

For his act of kindness Eric and Regina will spend their honeymoon on an all expenses paid trip to Ireland for 7 days and nights, and will fly in Aer Lingus’s new business class cabin.