Hatboro Police Officer Remembered 1 Year After Death

HATBORO, PA —Whitney Allen has come to peace with the death of her husband, Hatboro K9 Police Officer Ryan Allen, on the one-year anniversary of his death Friday.

"Things are going really well. The boys are doing really well. I'm feeling very grateful," the 36-year-old mother of two —who lives in Furlong, Bucks County —told Patch this week.

It was a year ago that Ryan Allen, a police officer since 2013, died on April 7, six months after having a heart attack following a freak bee sting incident.

Whitney Allen is trying to move on with her life. She's written a 154-page book, "Running in Trauma Stilettos: A Raw Glimpse at Grief and Life After Loss," that was released in late February. With the book, Allen is trying to share her grief with others so they possibly can move on too.

"It's an everyday journey. I have ebbs and flows of grief," Allen said about her husband's death. She's working out and going to therapy to make her feelings "more manageable and less painful."

Allen never had allergic reactions to bees and had been stung before. But in October 2021, he experienced an anaphylactic shock from a bee sting and suffered a heart attack. He never recovered.

At the time of her husband's accident, Whitney Allen was 26 weeks pregnant with the family's second child. She was working as a medical malpractice defense attorney in Princeton, N.J., and also raising a young son.

These days, Allen does grief counseling for women and widows and has launched a website to offer support.

While Friday marks the one-year anniversary, Allen said that wasn't the worst day of her life.

That actually happened, she said, when Allen knew that her husband wouldn't recover from the accident.

"There was no way he could get better," she said. "But it's kind of bittersweet. There's such a weird, complex array of emotions."

Allen said those complexities with grief come in several forms: Ryan's accident, his physical death, and then his memorial service last April 28.

She understands that people are moving on with their lives and said she hasn't really received an outpouring of extra support.

"It's just business as usual," Allen said. "I can't expect that every year. That's life and life goes on."

Allen said that she finds the signs she sees in Hatboro that state "We Love Officer Ryan Allen" to be "awesome."

While she said that Friday is a "significant anniversary," Allen said that she carries her husband with her every day, "not just one day a year."

She will remember he husband this way.

"It was his love of life," she said. "He was so full of life. He was always laughing and had a big smile on his face. Those are the images I will carry forever."