A Co Armagh boy, who suffers from quadriplegic cerebral palsy, enjoyed a surprise brush with the law while in the US for specialist medical treatment.
Four-year-old boy Oisín Traynor had the honour of becoming a Boston police officer for a day during his three-week visit to the city for intensive feeding and occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
Officers from the Boston Police Department showed Oisín a police cruiser and even gave him his very own BPD patch.
Read more: Family travelling to US for specialist treatments to help ‘little miracle’ Oisín
Oisín was born at 25 weeks on May 27, 2018, and weighed just 950 grams in London's Kings College Hospital, nearly two hours away from the then home of his parents, Mark and Seanin, in Harrow.
The family, which also includes Oisin's two-year-old sister Naoise, are now based in Ballymacnab.
Oisín spent the first six months of his life in hospital under constant care.
Some of the issues he faced were chronic lung disease, renal failure, hypertension, sepsis several times and he was on antibiotics for more than 100 days. He also needed multiple blood transfusions and over 31 surgical procedures.
At around two weeks old, a line delivering treatment displaced into Oisín’s abdomen and put extreme pressure on his tiny body, causing his oxygen levels and blood pressure to drop.
Oisín has quadriplegic cerebral palsy among other conditions. This means he has difficulties with muscle control, balance and coordination, so simple things such as sitting without support is extremely difficult.
Oisín relies on his specialist buggy for mobility and therefore family days out are often planned in advance and sometimes he is unable to participate in some activities due to lack of access.
His mum Seanin says many of the specialist treatments are not available in Northern Ireland, which only adds to possible costs.
The family travelled to the NAPA Centre in Boston for three weeks in March, which is world renowned for paediatric therapy. It was during this recent trip that Oisín's meeting with the BPD took place.
Mum Seanin said the visit was organised through a mutual friend who knew a serving police officer with connections to the O'Shea Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance in the city.
"We met up with Christine Melia Marini from the Boston Police Department on a Sunday morning visit to their parking lot and she had only just come back from a visit to Ireland as her daughter was Irish dancing.
"Oisín's face just lit up when he saw the police officers and he hasn't stopped smiling since. As we were there, more and more of them came over to meet him and keep him entertained.
"We were in Boston for a three-week treatment session, which is four hours a day Monday to Friday. Practically all of your time is spent in the centre for appointments so this was one of the few things we got to do together as a family during our time in the city."
Oisin's meeting with the police officers in Boston had given him a boost ahead of planned surgery in Belfast on Monday, which has since been cancelled.
Seanin explained: "We were in the car enroute to Belfast this morning for Oisin's surgery when I received a phone call to say emergency admissions overnight needed surgery today and will be taking our place on the list so his surgery got cancelled.
"Devastation is an understatement, but obviously we understand the reasons, though when you have waited almost two years for an actual date it’s hard.
"Apparently we will get the next available date, which is hopefully going to be April. For now we just have to sit and wait but the waiting is the hardest part."
She added: "It will be operation number 37 and the plan is to operate on one hip and if he's stable enough then operation 38 will take place at the same time and they will do the other one.
"His last hip X-ray back in June 2022 showed that the left hip was 70% out of the socket and the right was 50% out. So the plan is to remove some thigh bone and reposition the hip back into the socket, securing it with some pins and plates."
To keep up with Oisín's progress you can check out his Facebook page or to donate visit the JustGiving page.
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