'Hero Cape,' Filled With Police Patches, Helps Lacey Boy Be Brave

LACEY, NJ — Jaxon is a second grader who is always thinking of others. He has a kind soul, his mother says, and is always thinking how he can help.

Though he's still young, Jaxon has already overcome a great deal - in 2020, he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), his mom, Staci Fuge, told Patch.

NF1, a genetic disorder, causes many issues, but benign tumors are a big one. Jaxon, to date, has been diagnosed with 10 between his brain and spine. One on his spine causes him constant pain, Fuge said. Another in his brain gives him "stroke and seizure-like" activity.

Jaxon has also been diagnosed with developmental delays like speech, severe ADHD and Chiari malformation. This causes a lot of problems with school and learning, Fuge said. And the often-scary medical appointments don't help.

How does Jaxon keep fighting? He collects patches from police departments that go onto his hero cape and blanket.

Ever since he was 2-years-old, Jaxon has wanted to be a police officer. He thinks that they are "the bravest people on Earth," Fuge said.

He was scared after a bad experience at a local hospital, she said, and wanted to think of a way to give him some bravery. Jaxon had received a cape with a generic police patch on it, and asked if he could get a real one.

So Fuge reached out to then-Lacey Township Police Department Chief Michael DiBella.

"He had Jaxon come by and he gave him a few different patches and some Lacey PD swag," Fuge said. "Jaxon was so happy."

His grandma started a Facebook page, called Patches For Jax, to try and get patches from every department in America. Though they haven't quite reached that yet, Fuge estimates he has around a thousand now.

Jaxon has another scary test coming up in April, and the additional patches help keep his mind off of it, Fuge said.

But now he has so many that some are duplicates, and he wants to pay it forward.

They see a lot of other kids at the NF and oncology clinics that seem scared and worried, Fuge said. "Jaxon would like to help other kids be brave."

The plan is to make more blankets and capes with the patches and hand them out to other kids at the clinics to help them be brave.

"Even with all the scary health stuff that Jaxon goes through, this kid is always thinking of other people and how he can help them," Fuge said.

And in spite of all of this, Jaxon "works so hard each and every day to overcome his obstacles," Fuge said.

"He has an amazing teacher, Jodi Hughes, and a team of paraprofessionals that are a big reason he is starting to thrive!" Fuge said. "He was even able to start going to a mainstream class this year for social studies and Science, with Jodi Ritacco, and he absolutely loves it!"

If anyone would like to send a patch or even a letter of encouragement (Jaxon's family is putting together a binder for him) they can email Fuge at Patchesforjax@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.