Texas Police Officer Honors Family’s Request to Dress Like Spider-Man at Boy’s Funeral

Jack Phillips
4/18/2016
Updated:
4/18/2016

An officer is drawing praise for dressing up like Spider-Man for a 5-year-old boy’s funeral. A few weeks ago, a Fort Worth, Texas, boy named Joshua Garcia went missing. Officer Damon Cole went into a murky swimming pool to search for him, and he managed to pull the boy out.

Before he arrived on the scene, Joshua’s mother had been looking for the child.

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(Facebook)
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Even though Cole pulled the boy out, paramedics weren’t able to revive him. Joshua was wearing a Spider-man T-shirt when he died.

“There’s not a minute that has gone by that I haven’t thought about Joshua and his family,” Cole was quoted as saying by KTLA.

(YouTube)
(YouTube)

Even though Cole received accolades for his bravery on his Facebook page, he said it was “the most heartbreaking call of my 16-year police career.”

Garcia was buried at Laurel Land Memorial Park on Tuesday.

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(Facebook)

His family asked Cole, who was planning on attending, to pay tribute to the lad, so he dressed up as Spider-Man. According to Buzzfeed, the family told him that Joshua really did believe he was the comic book hero and had “spider powers.”

“This honestly had to be the biggest honor I have ever had in my 16 years as a police officer,” Cole wrote on Facebook. “I was so touched that the family did this for me. I had the family sign the plaque for me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.”

 

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Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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