Most people in New Zealand call 111 when there is a serious emergency (it’s the equivalent of The United States’ 911). However, if you are this little boy named Zachary, you might use the phone number for different things, like inviting the police to your birthday party.
Zachary, who at the time was about to turn 5-years-old, was set to have a police-themed party for his birthday.
A police-themed party could include several things: pretend uniforms, a cop car birthday cake, etc. But why stop there? Why not have the actual cops show up?
Zachary mentioned it to his mother Sarah, but she had no idea he actually went and made the call.
He tried to call several times but sadly, no answer.
Until Sarah soon received a call from the Counties Manukau Police (just what every mother wants) explaining that they received several calls from her son.
“I’m very sorry. That was my nearly 5-year-old son. He was just telling me that he, um, wanted to invite the police to his birthday party,” Sarah said on the phone, explaining how embarrassed she was.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it, but I’ll put it in,” the cop laughed.
And then finally, when Zachary’s birthday finally arrived on July 21st, him and his family were in for a little surprise.
While most people hope to never see the cops at their front door, it was this little boy’s dream!
The off-duty team arrived at his home, with a stuffed K9 in hand as a little gift.
The boy was very nervous and shy when he first opened the door. However, he soon warmed up, and the look on his face is absolutely priceless.
And the story goes even further beyond the cops coming over — they had a couple more treats in store.
Not only did the cops show, but they were dressed in their full riot uniforms, and also gave Zachary his own gear to wear for the day. Additionally, they let him take a ride in their car.
Zachary’s friends were amazed, too.
And it gets even crazier — an eagle helicopter flew over Zachary’s home just for the occasion! That is definitely impressive.
His mother Sarah felt extremely grateful and emotional, stating, “that is the most awesome thing you could have done for that gorgeous boy. Brought a tear to my eye.”
The police department shared a video of the whole event taking place on their FaceBook page, which you can watch below.
The video reached over one million views. One person shared that this pretty much summed up New Zealand police, meaning they’re pretty cool. Another person said “you guys are amazing,” and another commented, “When I see this wonderful act being presented to this wee little man I can’t help but see a bigger picture here.”
Now people are wondering if firefighters will show up to their homes if they invited them, however the New Zealand police shared a statement at the end discouraging people from doing this in the future.
“While our off-duty staff were happy to bring Zachary’s birthday wish to life, we don’t encourage kids calling 111 to invite the police to their birthdays.”
Bummer! But we guess it makes sense, since 111 is an emergency line and what not.
If you could invite someone to your birthday party, who would you invite?
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