Loric Colgrove, a 14-year-old with a love of Legos and dance, has been selected to serve as Hoquiam’s Police Chief for a Day.
The Chief for a Day program, sponsored by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, celebrates the lives of children who have been diagnosed with life-threatening or chronic medical conditions. Hoquiam has been participating in the program since 2014.
The home-schooled teen lives on a farm with his parents, three brothers and two sisters. He enjoys complex Lego sets (especially Star Wars), dancing, swimming, riding bikes and wrestling with his brothers.
Colgrove was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis at the age of 5. That means he was born without the gene that prevents tumor growth. The disorder is considered rare by the Mayo Clinic, affecting fewer than 200,000 people per year. While neurofibromatosis isn’t necessarily fatal, there is no cure, and tumors tend to grow in the nervous system, which can cause vision and hearing loss and chronic pain.
Colgrove successfully had a tumor removed from the base of his brain in 2015. Recently, another tumor was discovered behind his right eye, attached to his optic nerve. Surgery is not an option for this tumor, so he is having it closely monitored and has endured dozens of chemotherapy treatments.
Hoquiam Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff will swear in Colgrove during Monday’s City Council meeting. Come Aug. 16, the teen will join 33 other chiefs and sheriffs for an official ceremony at the police academy in Burien.
According to Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers, Colgrove will be issued his own uniform, a commemorative Chief for a Day badge, and will have a celebration for his entire family at the police department, tour city facilities, take a tug boat ride from the Hoquiam riverfront, be a judge at the annual Push Rods car show, and later ride in the lead police car at the Loggers Playday parade in early September.
The department is seeking donations and gifts for Colgrove and his family. For details, call 360-532-0892 and enter extension 105 for Myers or 289 for officer Phil High; you can also email jmyers@cityofhoquiam.com or phigh@cityofhoquiam.com.
