Unlike many other 19-year-olds who are home for the holidays, Flo spends his days lying in a hospital bed in Saratoga, fighting the last stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He has his good days and his bad days—the best days are those without pain or sickness. He now only has the ability to move his tongue, mouth and eyes.

Yet despite his hardships, one dream has always been important to him: to meet a police horse mounted unit. His mother, Elena, says that Flo has always been fascinated with horses and police officers, once wanting to become a policeman himself.

Flo's dream finally came true on Dec. 23.

Virginia Cuntapay, a social worker at Subacute Saratoga Hospital—where Flo lives—also knew about Flo's wish and called the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers to see if the newspaper group could help make his dream come true. Moments later, a call was made to Moses Barreras, a police officer with the San Jose Horse Mounted and Parks Enforcement Unit, and without a moment of hesitation, Barreras said members of the unit would come visit Flo at the hospital.

Just days later, on a rainy morning, Barreras and three of his fellow police officers kept their promise, gallantly walking to the hospital on their horses, which were decorated with holiday twinkle lights, antlers and Santa hats.

All of the children except Flo were wheeled out of the hospital to greet the horses. The moment that Flo was wheeled out to meet the horses he was completely surprised, as everyone at the hospital kept the event under wraps to make it a special surprise.

Once Flo appeared, the large crowd that had assembled became quiet. Eyes became teary as Barreras dismounted from his horse and met with Flo. On behalf of the entire unit, he gave Flo an official police patch and a hat. Then he unwrapped a plaque for Flo that was framed and matted, displaying each police officer's trading card, complete with signatures.

"Whenever you need us, we'll be here for you," Barreras told Flo. "You are now officially my partner."

Flo replied to Barreras with a faintly heard, "Thanks."

The event proved to be a breath of fresh air not only for Flo but also for the entire staff at the hospital. Many of the adults were taking pictures with Barreras and petting the horses, but everyone maintained that this was Flo's day.

After all the excitement, Flo was taken back to his room, where he lies almost flat, with his head elevated slightly, breathing with the aid of a tracheotomy ventilator, and is fed through an abdominal tube, except for the occasional treat of his mother's home cooking when she is visiting Flo from the family's home in Hollister. Elena says he was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 5 and was unable to walk by the age of 8.

He communicates in a soft, hardly recognizable tone but mouths his words quite well, so his doctor, family and hospital staff can understand him. And, he communicates with the outside world via email and the Internet by blowing through a tube, which tells his computer to send mail or check websites. He likes the San Francisco 49ers and spending time with his family when they visit.

Despite being told the event was going to take place, Elena was still uncertain it would happen, so she didn't tell the family about it until the day it arrived. She didn't want them to be disappointed.

"Flo's the only one in the family besides his mother and father who loves horses," Elena says, speaking Spanish, translated to English through respiratory therapist Marisa Aldama. "I couldn't believe when they told me his dream would come true."

The Bernal family moved to California when Flo was only a year old. Flo's father, Florencio, had hoped his son would be born in the United States. In fact, Flo is now studying to become a United States citizen via the Internet. His hope, along with that of many at the hospital, is that he is sworn in at the hospital.

Social worker Cuntapay supports Flo's drive to become an American citizen, and she was also instrumental in making Flo's recent wish come true. She still gets teary-eyed when talking about the day she received the good news.

"We couldn't believe it was going to happen," she says. "Here was this boy whose only dream was to see the horses. Everybody was so excited when we heard [the police] would come to see Flo."

Flo is the eldest child in the Bernal family. He has two younger sisters and a brother. It is hard for the family to visit Flo because they don't have a car, so a staff member at the hospital who resides in Hollister will often drive family members with her to work several times a week so they can visit with Flo.

"Nobody thought he would even make it to 13 years old," Elena says. "The other day, he told me, 'See Mom, I made it.' "

Since she has spent so many days and nights at her son's bedside, Elena says she doesn't know what she'll do when she loses him.

But on this very special day for Flo, his family and hospital patients and staff, all sadness was washed away with the pouring rain and smiling police officers atop their horses.

"We measure success here in small steps," Flo's doctor, Paul Quintana, says. "But he's a bright kid. It was so nice to see him happy."