Thirteen-year-old A. Gurumoorthy’s ambition is to become a police officer.
He is passionate about wearing the khaki.
On Wednesday, he was happy wearing the khaki uniform at the Valavadi Narayanaswamy Cancer Centre of G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Hospital here.
But, that was not all. He had two high-profile visitors as well.
Coimbatore City Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan, along with District Collector Archana Patnaik, called on the boy who is being treated for cancer.
The surprise for Gurumoorthy was made possible by the NGOs ‘Make A Wish India’ and the Coimbatore Cancer Foundation.
Gurumoorthy, who completed Standard VIII, is from Elathur — a remote hamlet in Nadupatti Panchayat in Salem district.
His father Alagesan (36) was bedridden after meeting with an accident. His mother Sangeetha (31) is a farmworker.
“It is a gesture that offers people like Gurumoorthy a ray of hope,” said R. Anita Fatima, programme coordinator of the foundation’s Coimbatore division told The Hindu .
She recalled that volunteers of the organisation visited the hospital where the boy was getting treated about two weeks ago.
He expressed his desire of becoming an Indian Police Services (IPS) officer to serve society.
He was inspired by actor Surya’s role as a police officer in the Tamil movie ‘Singam.’
He was determined to become a police officer and wished to be dressed like one, Ms. Anita Fatima said. The two organisations thought of taking Gurumurthy to the City Police Commissioner’s office.
But, the Commissioner and the Collector offered to visit him, when they came to know from director of the cancer centre T. Balaji that the boy was not fit enough to travel.
Deputy Commissioners of Police Pravesh Kumar and R.V. Ramya Bharathi, and a few Assistant Commissioners too went to the cancer centre.
The Collector, who came to the centre on a request from the Police Commissioner, pinned a badge on Gurumoorthy’s shirt, with his name on it. The ‘uniform’ was sponsored by a tailor.
Gurumoorthy welcomed the officials with a salute, shook hands, and interacted with them.
Gurumoorthy said that he would never forget this day.
“On Tuesday he had difficulty in stepping out of his bed. Overjoyed by the surprise-visitors he walked with them all the way to the reception area on Wednesday,” Ms. Anita Fatima said.
“We wanted to make it a memorable day for the ailing boy and did our best by sharing a few moments with him,” Mr. Viswanathan added.
