ST. CLOUD, Fla. (WESH) — A Special Olympics athlete and former St. Cloud resident who loves law enforcement was made an honorary officer Friday morning.
Our NBC affiliate, WESH 2, was there when Kevin Couture was handed his new uniform with his name on the badge.
Years ago, Couture was taken to the hospital after an incident on a boat. During that visit, he was told he had stage 4 bone cancer. They additionally found a mass in his lungs that was too aggressive to treat.
He lived in St. Cloud before moving to Leesburg, but has always had a bond with St. Cloud officers, firefighters, and even the SWAT team.
“Since I’ve been having my medical problems with my lungs, I wanted to just cry and be sad but now I’m happy… I got an actual uniform,” Couture said.
“Kevin has his moments where he’ll revert back to what’s going on with him medically. We wanted to give him a day where Kevin could think about Kevin and just knows we didn’t forget about him,” St. Cloud Police Department Sgt. Corey Targia said.
It’s unclear how much time Kevin has left, but it’s certain that he’ll be spending the near future with his best friend, Sgt. Targia.
They plan on attending a torch run that raises awareness for the Special Olympics.
