The softer side of Bangalore police

The Ashok Nagar police and Make A Wish Foundation fulfil the dream of a little girl, who is suffering from a life threatening illness

The softer side of Bangalore police

The Ashok Nagar police and Make A Wish Foundation fulfil the dream of a little girl, who is suffering from a life threatening illness

A little girl with a life threatening condition relived her dream when she was invited to the Ashok Nagar police station as a special guest on Monday. Mercy (7) suffers from Broncho Pneumonia and always desired to be a policewoman.

Kindergarten cop: Mercy loves Kiran Bedi and wants to be a
policewoman when she grows up

The Ashok Nagar police, through 'Make A Wish Foundation of India' fulfilled her dream by providing her with a police uniform, a toy gun and even the symbolic police lathi.

She was then accompanied by a policewoman on a special guided tour of the entire police stationu00a0-- the lockup included on request.

PI Geeta Kulkarni,
(traffic), Ashok Nagar said that it was the most memorable day for all personnel attached to her police station.
u00a0
"There was no limit to her joy as she greeted each and every police official with a huge smile on her face and a smart salute," Kulkarni said.

Playing cop
Mercy was also escorted to a traffic junction and allowed to direct traffic. "At the junction, she went inside the booth along with a policewoman and began signalling with her little hands," added Kulkarni. Recalling her day, Mercy said, "It was a great day for me as my dream has come true and I enjoyed it a lot."

Mercy, a resident of Salem in Tamil Nadu lives with her mother and elder sister. She was referred tou00a0 Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospitals. Volunteers at Make a wish foundation said, "When we met her at the hospital recently, Mercy was pale and tired of the endless battery of medical tests, scans and x-rays."

Volunteers added that Mercy was initially an introvert, but gradually after they presented her a small doll she began interacting with them.

Role model
According to Vijay Ladha, the foundation's honorary programme director, "Mercy told us that she loved playing chor-police." Besides this, Mercy also disclosed her hobby of collecting photos of top cops, especially India's first female police officer Kiran Bedi.

Mercy's mother said that her daughter would watch Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations live on television religiously every year.

"She loved the sight of police and military personnel. She always spoke of becoming a good police officer and protecting the common man from thieves," she said.

Changing lives
Ladha informed that the foundation will step in to make dreams a reality for all children living with life threatening illness between 3 and 18 years of age, irrespective of the caste, race, religion or socio-economic status. Having started its Bangalore unit in 2008, the foundation has fulfilled wishes of 700 children so far.