By Police1 Staff
LOWELL, Mass. — Police officers and firefighters helped give a boy with cancer a hero’s welcome as he made his return to school.
The Lowell Sun reports that more than 100 classmates, officers, firefighters and health care workers welcomed 7-year-old Ahmed Juma back to school on Tuesday. Ahmed suffers from brain cancer and has missed school since November.
Police escorted Ahmed from his home and drove him under the ladder of a fire department truck that was extended at the school’s entrance. Ahmed shook hands with officers and firefighters as he walked into school.
In 2014, Ahmed, his mother and brother came to Lowell, Mass. from a refugee camp in Uganda, where his father still remains. The family are patients at a local health center, which serves as a regional refugee assessment center.
One of the workers at the health center reached out to local police about escorting Ahmed after the boy was cleared to return to school.
Capt. Timothy Crowley said police wanted to do more for Ahmed’s and got the fire department involved. Police also provided the boy with a small bag of police-themed toys.
Ahmed returned to school part time as he continues to undergo chemotherapy.