Five-year-old Sebastian Lattuga got the chance to be a member of the NYPD Friday, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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The little boy was taken out of his school, PS 234 in Tribeca, early in the day and taken to NYPD headquarters. There, he was given his own uniform and got to ride in a police vehicle.
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Lattuga has been battling liver cancer since he was 2 and has undergone 11 surgeries and chemotherapy, and he is currently getting immuno-therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has always dreamed of being a member of the NYPD.
"Sebastian has really gone through a tough time over the past three years," dad Dr. Sebastian Lattuga said. "We're here today to really enjoy and celebrate our family and to give Sebastian a really special day."
And from working with the counterterrorism unit and playing with their devices to riding on an NYPD horse to meeting top brass, Sebastian got to wear many hats.
"His courage humbles me, and talking to his parents puts a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes," NYPD Chief James Waters said.
And the adventure continued with a water patrol aboard an NYPD boat.
"The words thank you...don't seem like enough," Dr. Lattuga said. "But it's really as much as I can do today."
When Sebastian arrived home, he found that a jail had been constructed in the basement of his apartment to ensure he can keep the peace after this day is over.
"I had an amazing day," he said. "Very fun."