Officer Rolf Seiferheld of the Duluth Police Department talking to Harrison Humphries, 6, during the Food Truck Friday event in downtown Duluth on May 21. (Courtesy of Duluth Police Department)
A veteran officer from the Duluth Police Department took a shine to the boy after meeting him on downtown patrol, and the pair have become firm friends.
Officer Rolf Seiferheld met Harrison Humphries in early 2021. They quickly learned that their values aligned.
Harrison wants to work in law enforcement to “help people get better,” reported 11 Alive.
Seiferheld enrolled with a similar philosophy: “Be kind, and treat people how you want to be treated. Show them the respect they deserve,” the officer told the news outlet.
In late May, a bystander caught a sweet interaction between Harrison and Seiferheld on camera. Duluth Police Department shared the picture on social media.
“Someone attending last week’s Food Truck Friday event in Downtown Duluth witnessed our very own Officer Seiferheld taking a moment to speak to this little guy,” they posted.
“He was super excited as they spoke about his toy trucks and wanted to see Officer Seiferheld’s patrol car!”
Moments like these, the department said, show the “true colors” of local law enforcement.
The boy’s mother, Tara, said Seiferheld has been nothing but kind and encouraging toward her son and his brother. Not many people take the time, and sometimes “they’re scared” to interact with Harrison, she said, according to the news report.
“Harrison was born without arms and then also minimal bones in his legs, so he has the absence of his hips, fibulas, and femurs,” Tara said, adding that they were told that her son would never be able to walk or feed himself.
However, the brave little Harrison ignored his prognosis, finding ways to do everything he needed to do using his feet the way many people use their hands.
Harrison can brush his teeth, brush his hair, and even tries to dress himself unassisted, said his proud mother.
His dream, said Tara, is “to be a detective, or the head police in charge,” reported 11 Alive.
Harrison and Seiferheld now meet up on the officer’s Friday night downtown patrols; the duo agrees that it is the best part of their week.
During their weekly meetings, Harrison and Seiferheld help each other out. While the officer can tell his protégé all about life in law enforcement, the 6-year-old takes inventory of the officer’s kit.
Harrison has already beaten numerous odds. Seiferheld’s support is further evidence to the 6-year-old, and his family, that everybody’s dream is valid and anything is possible.
“I think this is a relationship that can continue to grow, a partnership, which is what a community should be,” Tara told the news outlet.
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