Young cancer patient from Berwick given surprise police escort to hospital

JoJo, from Berwick, has been fighting acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – a form of blood cancer – for more than three-and-a-half years.

The eight-year-old is fascinated by the police and wants to become a police officer when he is older.

It has always been his dream to visit a police station, so officers from the Durham Roads and Armed Policing Unit had arranged for him to visit their base in Spennymoor to have a look around, meet the officers, and see their vehicles.

However, due to his deteriorating condition he was never able to attend and his visits were cancelled.

But having been so moved by his story, officers from the unit still wanted to do something special for him. Therefore, last week they took a training ride opportunity to pay him a surprise visit at home before escorting him to his latest hospital appointment.

Four motorcycle outriders ensured he travelled in style to the Great North Children’s Hospital, in Newcastle, where both JoJo and his cuddly chemotherapy duck Dave got a chance to sit on the bikes and meet the officers.

They were also given some police memorabilia to take home with them.

After the visit, JoJo said: “It was the best experience of my entire life, I can’t believe it happened to me and I will never forget it, thank you everyone!”

His mother, Claire, added: “I don’t think I will ever be able to put into words just how much JoJo loved it – he had the best time ever, thank you so much to everyone involved.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him so emotional, but in a happy way. He has been through so much and these words do not feel good enough for what you have done for him.”

Although still undergoing intensive chemotherapy, JoJo will hopefully ‘ring the bell’ in September this year as doing so marks the completion of this treatment.

Inspector Kevin Salter, from Durham Roads and Armed Policing Unit, said: “JoJo’s story has touched the hearts of us all and it was a privilege and an honour to be in a position to do this for him.”