The Queensland Police Service is delighted to announce six-year-old Brisbane boy, Travis Heery, who is battling a terminal illness, has been sworn into the Service as an honorary junior police officer.
Little Travis has always wanted to be a police officer.
Unfortunately, in his final weeks of Prep, he was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG) which is an aggressive and incurable tumour that grows in the brainstem.
Showing his bravery and resilience, Travis has received 30 radiation treatments, which successfully gave him full motion back and for two blissful months, and he was able to be a normal six year old boy.
Travis’ mum, Kaye, said that sadly, the tumour has returned and has now entered a state of progression which will eventually take Travis’s ability to speak, eat and eventually breathe.
“He is courageous beyond measure,” Kaye said.
“He takes every blow with a great attitude and has endured more than most adults.
“He is an exceptional kid.”
Being fascinated by the role of a police officer, Travis was originally told that he would be meeting some police officers on Friday, but had no idea what was in store for him.
Acting Sergeant Paul Bagnall, who organised the event, arranged for Travis to have a special police polo to make the event as real as possible.
Special Junior Constable Travis was picked up from his house in a marked Road Policing Unit vehicle and was escorted by a police motorcycle to the Mounted Police Centre in Moggill to begin his policing career.
He was met by Constable Clancy the koala and Acting Inspector Rob Wann, who welcomed him to the Service and presented him with his signed Certificate of Appointment by Commissioner Katarina Carroll, as the Police Pipes and Drums band played for him.
For the following two hours, Special Junior Constable Travis met police from lots of different specialist units including the Dog Squad, Mounted Unit, Special Emergency Response Team, Scenes of Crime and the EORT robot. Although, playing soccer with the Mounted Unit was by far his favourite activity.
Acting Sergeant Bagnall, who was initially asked to visit Travis in a police car to simply meet him, said that he knew he had to do so much more for the little guy.
“In my job as a crime prevention officer, we do public and community engagement work, but I haven’t had a chance to do something as wonderful as this,” Acting Sergeant Bagnall said.
“It is such a wonderful cause and we are all so pleased to give this little hero something so special today.”
Commissioner Carroll, who was unable to make the event due to prior commitments, said she was honoured Special Junior Constable Travis wished to become a Queensland police officer.
“Travis has gone through a lot this past year and I’m very pleased that we could support his dream of joining the Queensland Police Service,” Commissioner Carroll said.
