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Bourg Elementary School kindergartener Zachary Smith loves helicopters and airplanes, so Louisiana State Police Troop C decided to give him a big treat.
And Smith, who lives in Montegut, will be receiving an even greater treat in November when Troop C sends him and his family to Disney World for a week.
Troop C flew Smith in a State Police helicopter last Wednesday morning from the trooper station in Gray, over his house in Montegut, and landed him in a field in back of Bourg Elementary to the cheers of his classmates who gathered to see the event.
Smith is a quadruple amputee. He lost his limbs below the elbows and the knees when he was one-year-old after a bacterial infection made him critically ill. He was placed on a ventilator and kidney dialysis for over six weeks, diminishing the circulation to his extremities. Gangrene set in, forcing Smith’s parents, Heidi and Eric, to make the agonizing decision to amputate.
“Zachary has a can-do attitude,” said State Police Trooper Gilbert Dardar, who rode in the helicopter with Smith, along with Eric Smith and the pilot, Jeff Couples.
“He won’t quit,” Dardar said. “Without his hands, he can’t do some things, but his goal is to do things on his own. It’s rare in a six-year old. If that doesn’t bring tears to your eyes, there’s something wrong with you.”
Heidi Smith said that Zachary thought the helicopter ride “was the best day ever.”
“He was speechless,” she said. “Zachary had a big smile on his face. He enjoyed it thoroughly.”
Troop C is paying for the Disney World trip through the State Police’s Grant-A-Wish program, which started in 1984.
The program raises the bulk of its funds from the annual Grant-A-Wish Golf Tournament, held this year in August, the spokesman said.
“It’s amazing the amount of support by the community,” Dardar said. “The number of
Grant-A-Wish kids we do depends on the money. We try to do as many as we can. Of course, we don’t hope for someone to need the Grant-A-Wish program.”
Smith is able to walk without much apparent difficulty. He uses prosthetic legs, which are colored purple and gold and have the letters “LSU” painted on them.
When Smith walked out of the helicopter, his classmates were surprised. They had been told only that they were gathering to see a helicopter flight demonstration.
“They were clapping and waving it was wonderful,” said Bourg Principal Mary Justice.
“We’re very pleased for Zachary. One of his favorite things is air flight.”
“He’s different from the other children,” she said. “While they see him as special, they see that he enjoys the same things they enjoy, that he’s no different from them.”
“He’s an exceptional little boy,” she said. “He is really outstanding.”
Smith originally expressed a desire to go to a camp in Mississippi. Later, he asked whether he could go to Disney World.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “I’ve never been there before.”
Heidi Smith seemed as eager to go to Orlando as her son. The family – Zachary, his parents and two brothers – will be going on the trip.
Heidi and Eric have been to Disney World only once before, and that was a long time ago. “It will be a treat for all of us,” she said.
During the helicopter flight, Zachary said he enjoyed seeing his house from overhead.
“The helicopter was like a big plane, but the plane hits the ground hard,” he said.
He said he has a camouflaged toy helicopter at home.
About the purple-and-gold coloring, and the LSU letters, painted on his prosthetic legs, Smith said he likes the decoration, but the design was not his first choice.
“I would like to get legs saying ‘Southwest’ (Airlines),” he said.
Zachary Smith, a kindergarten student at Bourg Elementary, and his father Eric land at the school after State Police Troop C granted the six-year-old’s wish to ride in a helicopter. The Smiths will also visit Disney World in November. * Photo courtesy of STATE POLICE TROOP C
