Teen with aggressive cancer lives dream as police detective for a day
"It was something I'll never forget," said Sean Dixon, 16.
— -- A 16-year-old boy's lifelong wish to become a police detective has been fulfilled.
On August 1, Sean Patrick Dixon, who's battling an aggressive bone cancer, was sworn into the Suffolk County Police Department at the headquarters in Yaphank, New York.
"It was pretty great," Sean Dixon, 16, told ABC News. "I got to see all the different types of things that go on in the police department and it was really nice that they were able to get that together. They made a dream become a reality. It was something I'll never forget."
Sean Dixon was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, in September 2015. He's received more than 50 rounds of chemotherapy treatment and in October 2015, had his leg amputated as a result of the disease.
"It's been hard and long journey, but of course I'm positive," he said. "I want to beat this and just want to get better. I'm trying to continue my life and make everything as best as it can be."
Despite his illness, Sean's mother, Kim Dixon, said her son's spirits remain high.
"He has continued with school as he could," Kim Dixon of Medford, New York, told ABC News. "He recently has a girlfriend...he says nothing is going to stand in his way.
"He has a very positive outlook despite what doctors say from his last scan," she added. "They said it's spreading throughout his body. It's in his lungs, it's in his soft tissue and it's in a few spots now in his brain. It's getting worse, but it does not stop him."
Sean has been interested in a career in law enforcement, like his grandfather, since he was little, Kim Dixon said.
His grandpa, John Henderson, served in the Nassau County Police Department on Long Island, New York, for 35 years.
"[Sean] was very inquisitive as a little boy so he would always ask, 'Poppy, what happened at work today?'" Kim Dixon recalled.
A friend of the family, Suffolk County detective Ed Troyano, knew about Sean's interests and decided to help give him an honor. On July 6, Sean Dixon's 16th birthday, his was able to live out his dream as a police detective for a day.
During his day as detective, Sean Dixon worked with experts in the evidence, homicide and K-9 units. He also received his own identification card and badge and sat with the 911 dispatcher to listen in on emergency calls.
"We swore him in and he got the tour," Suffolk Police Commissioner Timothy Sini told ABC News. "He learned a lot about the police department, but we also learned what Sean was all about. He's about hope, determination and he's certainly inspired the members of the department. We look forward to keeping in touch with him and his family."
Sean thanked the department for a "truly amazing" day the department made possible.