BERKELEY – There was a line of police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances driving up Route 9 one morning. It wasn’t an emergency. It was a parade. But what was the special occasion? Jaxon Fuge’s birthday.
The boy is obsessed with wanting to be a police officer when he grows up. His eyes were huge and his arms waved excitedly as one vehicle after another drove past him in the parking lot of the Bayville Elks. Looking at the support that came his way, it looked like the local police would be happy to have him.
When Jax was three, his parents noticed he had some delays. After two years of doctor visits he was finally diagnosed with neurofibromatosis (NF1). Symptoms differ, but it is characterized by pigmentation changes on the skin and non-cancerous tumors on the nerves. Currently, he has 14 tumors.
“Right now, he’s doing amazing,” his mother Staci Fuge said. He attends Lanoka Harbor Elementary School, where he works on the speech delay he still has.
All three of their children have the condition. They take parts in fundraising walks to support research; there is currently not a treatment.
Every Halloween, except for his first two, he’s dressed up as a police officer, she said. There’s a blue line painted on his bedroom wall.
Not only did every local first responder become part of the parade, but also Sangria the horse that works special missions like this for the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department. After the parade, Sangria hung out for the family to meet. There was also a demonstration by K9 officer Mellow and Sgt. Mike Conrad. Jaxon and his sister Charlotte took turns giving Mellow commands.
Several vehicles were opened up for them to explore. Inside the Elks Lodge, there was a birthday party for Jax and a craft fair. Out back, there was a food truck and petting zoo.
“His biggest dream is to be a police officer,” his grandmother Fran Weiss said. “He has the biggest heart you’ve ever seen in a child.”
This has led him to collect police badges from all over the country. He has more than 5,000 now.
Someday, instead of watching from the sidelines, Jax will be one of the police officers taking part in a parade.
How To Help
The Children’s Tumor Foundation said that NF affects one in 2,000 births, and it affects everyone differently. More than 4 million people worldwide have the condition.
CTF.org is the fundraising arm that invests in epidemiologists working to find a cure.
