Whitney Allen of Hatboro was featured by People magazine on Saturday, three years after her husband, Ryan, a 35-year-old police officer, went into cardiac arrest for nearly 20 minutes after being stung by a bee in late 2021.
The length of the cardiac arrest led to an anoxic brain injury, and five months later, his family placed him in hospice. The father of two passed away on April 7, 2022.
“Sadly, today Hatboro Police Officer Ryan Allen passed away surrounded by family and friends,” Police Chief James Gardner wrote in a tribute. “Officer Allen was well known and loved in our community and was often seen in town with his canine partner, Louie. Officer Allen will be deeply missed by not only his family, but by his brothers and sisters in law enforcement and our community.”
Allen joined the Hatboro force in 2013, was a member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force, and co-founded the K9 department in Hatboro after raising $40,000 and undergoing six months of training, Whitney told People.
“He was the first person that had ever had a K9 in his department, and when he first started in 2013, that was his dream,” she said. ““I think the most important way that I feel is the most impactful is living like Ryan did. He was such a lively, outgoing person, and living more like he did in my everyday life, and just embracing life in that way.”
The community organized a police procession in his honor on March 17, 2022. Whitney posted the following on TikTok yesterday:
@whitneylynallen The first Mother's Day after my husband, Ryan's, death, my 4-year-old said "it's just the 3 of us mama 💔." It hit me like a ton of bricks that I was my children's everything and it was never supposed to be that way. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I had two little people to live for when I lacked my own sense of identity and purpose. My babies were my two reasons to keep going. To keep faith that life would get better. They were my reason to laugh and smile when everything felt heavy. They were my light. And yet, I remember how terrified I was. How sometimes I was paralyzed by how overwhelming parenting while grieving felt. That sometimes all I wanted to do was disappear and I couldn't. I was constantly oscillating between feeling like my children were my only reason for living and also just feeling so drained by the immense responsibility of being my children's everything. Parenthood is both the hardest and most fulfilling job in the world. I love being a mother and this journey has sometimes felt beyond what I was capable of. But the 3 of us made it together. We grew, learned, and loved through it all. And we are so lucky that it isn't *just* the 3 of us anymore. So Happy Mother's Day to the moms that are in the trenches right now. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers that are grieving seasons they lost in survival mode. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers that are transitioning out of just surviving. You're all superhero's. You're doing amazing no matter what season you're in. . . . 💌DM "Retreat" for my widow's retreat 💌DM "Support" for 1:1 grief support 💌DM "Carried" to order my 2nd book 💌DM "Running " for my book 💌DM "Email" to sign up for my list . . . #grievingprocess #griefcoach #griefjourney #youngwidow #youngwidows #widowedandyoung #widow #widows #widowhood #widowlife #widowed #widowedmom #anaphylaxis #anaphylacticshock #anoxia #anoxicbraininjury #anoxic #death #griefandloss #deathanddying ♬ Let It Go (Originally performed by James Bay) (Instrumental Version) – StudiOke
In May 2024, the Hatboro Police Department dedicated a plaque in Allen’s honor.
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Photos: Hatboro Police Department