Autistic boy's quest to be cop leads to friendship, deputizing By
Michelle MacalusoPublished January 25, 2013
FoxNews.com
- Eighteen-year-old Blaize Richard's lifelong dream of being a police officer got an assist from Jennings, La., cop Mike Hill. (Courtesy: Angie Richard)
Next Slide Previous Slide A Louisiana mom is making her autistic son's dream of becoming a police officer come true - with some help from their town's finest.
Angie Richard, of Jennings, always knew her son Blaize was fascinated with the police officers, and when he turned 18 he had one birthday wish. He told his mother he wanted to become a cop. The determined mom arranged for her son to get a Jennings Police Department uniform and even got a police officer to show him inside a squad car.
"Seeing his face light up just does me wonders for me."
- Police Officer Mike HIll, of Jennings, La.
But it got even better.
A week later, Blaize got a tour of the police department and received an official coin and a special certificate. It was then that he met Officer Mike Hill, and the two started an amazing friendship with Hill designating the young man his "backup cop".
"It's awesome, not many cops will do that, and it means a lot," said Angie Richard "We're just happy that he's happy. The funny thing is he doesn't even realize how big this is, he's just happy he's a police officer."
Richard posted this story on Facebook to show her appreciation of what Hill has done for her son, and the post has garnered more than 350,000 likes since Monday.
Richard says Hill and Blaize hang out nearly every day, with the police officer visiting both at home and school.
"We just sit and talk and discuss movies, especially police movies, and what I do in certain situations," Hill told FoxNews.com.
Richard says her son is over the moon when Hill comes and visits.
"He has a smile on his face and will talk about it for days and days," said Richard.
That's as important a part of his job as anything else, said Hill.
"Helping him has been an honor," Hill said. "He's special. Seeing his face light up just does me wonders for me."
Hill says he doesn't want any of the attention and wants the spotlight to be on Blaize.
"It's not for me," Hill said. "I'm humbled by it, but this is all for him. This is something that he's always wanted and I'm just glad that I was a part of making something new for him."
Michelle Macaluso is part of the Junior Reporter program at Fox News. Get more information on the program here. Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/25/autistic-boy-quest-to-be-cop-leads-to-friendship-deputizing/#ixzz2J22ZGda2
