Danny Caro was riding high Friday night.
Make that “Major” Danny.
Danny, 10, headed Harry Lee’s posse in the Nefertari parade, riding with the sheriff in a jeep in front of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office mounted division.
Lee outfitted the youngster in a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office jumpsuit – complete with his name and title and a flashlight and hat. He dubbed Danny an honorary major.
Blaine Kern supplied the youngster with four cases of beads, Lee said.
Danny was burned in an accident when he was 2 and has learned to cope without hands. Surgeons have rebuilt thumbs to allow him to grasp objects. He plays basketball and baseball and is an honor roll student at Terrytown Academy.
Lee heard of Danny trough Gerie Huguet, a volunteer at Terrytown Academy who took a shine to the youngster.
Huguet arranged for Danny to ride in a special children’s parade in New Orleans in April, but Huguet wanted his West Bank friends to see him ride in a parade.
Huguet tapped Lee, who has a reputation for being fond of children. He, too, took a shine to Danny.
“He’s a delightful little kid,” Lee said. “He was really excited about it.”
At a school assembly last week, Lee presented Danny with his uniform and beads. Danny promptly pelted the students with throws.
Later that day, he told his mother, Marilyn, that it had been the best day of his life.
“We’ll probably never hear the end of it,” she said with a smile.
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