Officers help William make a special entrance at his Year 11 prom

There aren’t many teenagers who arrive at their school prom in handcuffs in the back of a police van – but then William Barlow hasn’t had what you would call a normal two years.

Diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin Lymphoma at the age of 14 that severely disrupted his GCSEs, William really wanted to make his Year 11 prom one to remember.

And after hearing about how incredibly he dealt with the brutal treatment, members of our Shirebrook Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) were only too happy to help him arrive in style for the special celebration evening last week.

With a police van and car – along with a fire engine – his entrance to the prom really set tongues wagging.

William said: “I enjoyed the escort more than the prom and I’m really grateful that the police and fire teams went out of their way to do this for me.

“I’d like to thank them all and Netherthorpe school for supporting this.

“It’s a memory that will last forever for me and my friends and I’m so glad they were able to join in and come with me.”

After discovering a lump in his neck two years ago William was diagnosed with a form of the cancer that had never been seen in the UK before, meaning treating the condition came with a host of challenges.

William underwent an operation lasting more than nine hours in which the lymph nodes on the side of his neck were removed, before undergoing chemotherapy.

He was then given the all-clear but just months later, after a routine MRI scan, it was discovered that the cancer had returned.

This meant another round of chemotherapy for the 16-year-old who is now awaiting the results of his latest MRI scan to see how successful the treatment has been.

Being poorly means William has inevitably missed a lot of school at a time when his classmates at Netherthorpe School have been studying hard in preparation for their GCSEs. But his determination knows no bounds as mum Helen explained: “He didn’t really get to complete year 11 but he still wanted to take all his exams so he went back to school and did the whole year in five weeks. He did all the higher papers and took all his exams. The school have been brilliant with him, they even gave him a room on his own for the exams.”

With thoughts turning to the end of the school year, William began making preparations for his prom and there was only one way he had in mind to get to the event at Van Dyk Hotel in Clowne – something which required a little help from Derbyshire Constabulary.

PC Jake Stone from the Shirebrook SNT went to meet William at home in Langwith, and a plan began to form for officers to head to William’s home address on the night of the prom, where he would be ‘arrested’ and placed into the back of a police van, before being driven to the hotel where he would be taken out of the back of the van in handcuffs in front of all of the pupils and teachers and then de-arrested, just in time to enjoy the celebrations.

Our officers were only too happy to get involved and make sure William enjoyed a night to remember, with many giving up their own free time to get involved. Colleagues from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service also wanted to help, so a police car, police van and a fire engine all turned up to escort William to the prom venue.

But William wasn’t done with the surprises just yet – he hadn’t told any of his classmates what he was planning, and even his two friends Fin and Charlie, who travelled with him on the night, weren’t aware they were going to be handcuffed!

All the effort paid off though, as William enjoyed a night he’ll never forget.

Mum Helen Noble said: “It was absolutely fantastic. William loved it. He just kept on smiling, he must have had cheek-ache by the end the of the night. Words just aren’t enough to say thank you. This kind of experience isn’t something any amount of money can buy. We are all just so blown away.

“William has such a dry sense of humour so getting ‘arrested’ was just this amazing moment for him. We could hear everyone saying ‘oh my gosh’ when he got out of the van with handcuffs on.”

William’s unwavering positivity and bravery throughout his illness has been inspirational as Helen added: “His attitude to it all is that he’s just been dealt this hand and is unlucky. He’s been so brave and so positive throughout his treatment and everything. He says he’s got to do it anyway so he may as well do it with a smile on his face and make the best of his situation.”

PC Jake Stone was also inspired by William’s attitude. He said: “I was told about William’s situation by a friend of his family who also told me that he had his prom upcoming. I met William almost straight away after hearing about him - he is inspirationally brave with a fantastic sense of humour, I couldn’t help but smile after being in his presence and wanted to repay the favour by making his prom as special as we could.

“As a local Safer Neighbourhood Team we want to make a positive difference within our community and we couldn’t let William go to his prom without him having the most positive and special experience possible!

“The response from local police teams in North East Derbyshire was unbelievable to the point we had to scale it back as we wouldn’t have fit all our vehicles on Williams drive to pick him up! Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service also joined in to make William’s day extra special. He specifically asked me to ‘arrest him’ as he said it would be cool - he was therefore ‘arrested’ by my sergeant for being too cool for school!

“The smile on William’s face at his prom made all of the planning worthwhile. It’s been a pleasure to meet him and I hope he had the best night possible.”

And Sergeant Mark Church, who ‘arrested’ William, added: “We were absolutely delighted to help make William’s prom a night to remember. Hearing about what he has been through really moved us as a team so PC Jake Stone was keen to ensure we could help him out.

“To see the smile on William’s face was just wonderful and I’m really grateful to all of the team who got involved, as well as our colleagues from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.

“All of the team would like to wish William all the best for the future.”

Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service Watch Manager Shane Reeves said: “William's story is one of courage and determination so when Shirebrook crew were asked to escort him to prom, it was an honour to be involved in such a special occasion and help him mark the end of school.  

“He is a true inspiration, and we wish him all the best for the future.”