Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A— Wednesday, July 28, 2021, The True Citizen
Officers honor young man, set up fundraiser
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
Four-year-old Demauryan
“Juju” Daniels is very much
like others his age: he loves
Paw Patrol, Popeyes chicken,
watching YouTube and video
chatting with his family. This
little boy with a hug grin and
contagious laugh, however,
has led anything but a normal
life, and the Waynesboro Po
lice Department (WPD) has
stepped up to try to help.
“To the untrained eye, Juju
really is just a regular, playful
kid,” WPD Corp. Gary Jenkins
said. “That is until you hear
his story. Then you realize this
young man has gone through
more in his four years of life
than most adults in their life
time.”
Juju’s mom, Tanedra Dan
iels, explained that her son
was bom with a rare syndrome
called Complete DiGeorge
Syndrome. Add abnormal
electrolytes, a heart condi
tion, an ascending aorta, just
to name a few, and one can
maybe begin to understand
why he spent the first two years
of his life at the children's hos
pital in Atlanta.
At barely two years old, Juju
underwent a thymus transplant
on Sept. 13, 2019, which, his
mother explained, is what he
was bom without. “A thymus
is what produces white blood
cells,” she said. “So a simple
cold could have killed him.
He’s been in isolation since
2017.”
In April of this year, they
finally began seeing the suc
cesses of Juju’s transplant
surgery.
“We were told Juju would
never walk or talk, that he
would be mentally retarded,”
Tanedra said, “but look at him
now, doing what doctors said
he would never do.”
She credits Juju’s big broth
er, Zyshaun, 14, for helping
him learn to walk, and people
like Corp. Jenkins and the
WPD for opening up their
hearts to him. As a single mom
who cannot work due to Juju’s
medical issues and who doesn’t
have a large support system
(“People leave when life gets
tough,” she says), she appreci
ates every gesture of kindness
that comes her way.
Last week, the WPD made
Juju, who loves all things first
responders related, an honorary
police officer.
“It was so wonderful that
they took their time to do
something like this for my
Juju,” she said. “He and Gary
have a bond now like they’ve
known each other for years ...
You never know what some
one is going through and how
strong they are. Sometimes a
smile is really hiding tears.”
Jenkins said Juju showed up
already dressed out in his little
police uniform and ready to go
to work. “He had the time of his
life while taking everybody to
jail, myself included,” Jenkins
laughed.
Juju said writing tickets was
his favorite part aside from the
patrol vehicle’s sirens.
HOW TO HELP
Jenkins has since set up a
GoFundMe account to help
the Daniels as they continue on
Juju’s journey, a path marked
with trips to see specialists in
Augusta, Atlanta and Duke
University in North Carolina.
The list of doctors is a long
one: cardiologist, endocrinolo
gist, urologist, gastroenterol
ogy ENT, homology, among
others, and with the travel
comes added expenses for gas,
food, car rentals and hotels.
Anyone who would like to
make a contribution may visit
the fund raiser page at
https://gofund.me/5c7f2fe6.
Sgt. John Pritchett of the Waynesboro Police Department helps welcome news honorary
officer Demauryan “Juju” Daniels.
Student Chromebook
distribution this week
Burke County Public Schools will begin distributing new
Chromebooks to students this week on Tuesday, Jul 27, 2021
through Thursday, Jul 29,2021. Other opportunities for parents
to pick up their students’ devices will be offered, as necessary.
Students that did not return their Chromebooks from the previous
school term will not be eligible to receive a new one.
There will be specific dates for student Chromebook pickup.
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