When 7-year-old Adam Brodersen wrote a letter in his first-grade class about his dreams of becoming a police officer, the young boy, who suffers from a rare and complex heart defect, never could have imagined what would come next.
Adam’s parents posted the letter to Facebook after they saw it hanging on a wall at Paddock School in Palatine and the letter was later shared with members of the Buffalo Grove Police Department, who then took action, according to the Daily Herald.
Adam was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect that leaves the left side of his heart critically underdeveloped and unable to pump blood to his body. Most of his early years were reportedly spent undergoing major surgeries.
On Wednesday, Adam, who thought he was going to his sister’s dentist appointment, was instead taken to the Buffalo Grove Police Department, where he would become a cop for a day, the Daily Herald reported.
"His mind went blank," his mother Susan Brodersen told the newspaper.
The young boy was given a navy blue police uniform with gold patches, an award ribbon bar for outstanding police work, a holster with plastic handcuffs, and a partner.
He was sworn in by Buffalo Grove Police Chief Steve Casstevens, who asked Adam to raise his right hand.
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“The other one,” Casstevens said when Adam raised his left.
“I promise to protect my partner, Mike, catch bad guys and be nice to the citizens of Buffalo Grove,” Adam said.
He spent the day traveling in a bulletproof SWAT vehicle, completed SWAT training, patrolled the village with Officer Mike Martin and even made an arrest in a fake robbery.
Adam’s parents said the young boy collects police Legos and would playfully handcuff his sister.
"It leaves me speechless," Susan Brodersen told the Daily Herald. "We've come a long way with trying to get him out there and explaining what the heart condition is like. Something as special as becoming a police officer to Adam is very special to us."
