‘It lets us know we are not alone.’ 6-year-old battling cancer gets a ride on a police boat

Kayson Roman didn’t have to worry about hospital bells, doctors or the endless poking and prodding he has endured.

On Friday, he was simply Captain Kayson on North Miami’s police boat.

The tiny 6-year-old — who has been fighting cancer since he was 1 — donned a way-too-big police shirt and a captain’s hat, which covered his scar from his recent brain surgery.

He soaked up the attention as law enforcement agencies from across South Florida came together to give him a day he wouldn’t forget — complete with a water salute and a helicopter flyby.

“I was especially proud to be part of the law enforcement community today,” said Larry Juriga, chief of the North Miami police department, which organized the day. “One little boy brought out all the agencies to show how important he is and how much we want him to continue to be strong in this battle he is in.”

Kayson’s mother, Araibis Diaz, said she was “surprised, thankful and excited.”

“I never expected the surprise to be so big,” she said in Spanish. “It lets us know we are not alone.”

The diagnosis

Kayson was a “happy, healthy, chunky baby, who was crawling and saying a few words.

Then when he was 1 — March 2016 — he fell, and his mother noticed his eye was red and he had a bump on his forehead.

She rushed him to the emergency room.

By the next day she learned he had a tumor behind his eye and in his adrenal gland. He was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma.

Overnight, their lives changed.

“It’s difficult because the first thing you think of his death,” she said.

Over the next several years, he endured a relapse to the brain, chemotherapy, radiation, two bone marrow transplants, several blood transfusions and surgeries.

Then in November 2021 he relapsed again. This time he had a high-grade glioma in his brain, a different kind of cancer.

“I never even realized a child could have two types of cancer,” his mom said.

He had brain surgery to remove the tumor on Dec. 10 and will start radiation treatment Monday at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.

Day on the water

Kayson had a choice between a ride in a police car and boat.

The choice was easy.

“He has always had an affinity for police,” said his dad, Lazaro Roman, who added that he loves being on the water. “This gives us a little peace and hope.”

When the boat left the marina in North Miami, Kayson sat on the bow, with an assist from his mom.

As the boat left the canal, boats from agencies including Indian Creek, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard, Miami-Dade Fire and Miami Fire set up in formation, giving Kayson a water salute. Kayson pointed, waved and smiled. He even gave a fist pump as a couple of agencies pulled up to the side up the boat to deliver hats, badges and other memorabilia.

Silvia Vanni, who started the Mystic Force Foundation after her son Salvatore died at age 7 from neuroblastoma in 2011, said she met Kayson and his family five years ago when he was first undergoing treatment. She runs The Heroes Hangout, which is a North Miami Beach space filled with games, toys and activities for kids battling cancer.

She reached out to Chief Juriga to set up a boat day ahead of Kayson returning to the hospital for treatment.

“As a parent, there is nothing better than to see your child just be a kid,” she said. “There are no words for that.”

Diaz said she knows Friday’s treat will help Kayson and her whole family as treatment starts up again.

“Joy and happiness is important,” she said, adding that Kayson is a fighter. “I don’t understand where he gets the strength to keep going. God has a purpose for him and he will be a testimony.”