Coventry Officer Provides Backup to Boy Fighting Cancer

A 5-year-old Coventry boy recently got an escort by Coventry Police Officer John Nickerson to police headquarters in a police cruiser with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Nickerson responded to the home of the Dimauro family and picked up Logan, a young boy who has bravely been battling cancer since he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2012.

Along with his older brother Jayden, they were whooshed to Coventry police headquarters, getting a chance to use the police radio while en route.

Once there, the Dimauro family got a tour of the station, met K-9 Officer Sgt. Ricci and his loyal partner Enzo and Robert Faherty, the former chief of the Boston Police Department.

Faherty, chairman of Cops for Kids with Cancer, had a surprise up his sleeve — a check for $5,000.

The gift is an effort to help the family get through their next round of battle against Logan’s cancer. He went through chemotherapy, lumbar punctures with sedation and countless hospital admissions in the two year period following his initial diagnosis.

The family was dealt a blow when they learned Logan had relapsed this year and has been receiving more chemotherapy and might have to get a bone marrow transplant.

“Logan also has to retrieve radiation in the next couple of months. This journey is not even close to over. This will yet again be a two year plan. Please continue to keep Logan and his family in your thoughts and prayers as they battle this awful cancer and get Logan to a safe place of living a life the way a child deserves to live,” said Coventry Police Chief Col. John MacDonald.

For Officer Nickerson, the effort to give the family a lift hits close to home. His own child was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2014. Thankfully, the cancer is in remission.

That connection has led to a bond between Logan and Officer Nickerson and shows how police officers do more than just respond to reports of crime. As the eyes and ears for a community, police encounter people of all stripes and the motto “to protect and serve” isn’t just about making arrests. Sometimes, the bad guy is cancer.

Logan’s mother is keeping friends and supporters updated on Logan’s battle on a Facebook Page she’s named “SUPER LOGAN.”

The Cops for Kids with Cancer organization is a nonprofit made up of active and retired police officers and friends of law enforcement. They support families of children battling cancer to help alleviate some of the financial and emotional strain during treatment.

Parents often have to give up jobs and face crippling medical bills, hospital parking fees, meal costs and often find themselves late on family bills.

The organization states that is has donated more than $1.4 million to 280-plus families in New England since 2011.

To donate, visit copsforkidswithcancer.org