Officer Dad adopts unadoptable child

As reported in People magazine and on the Spartanburg Sheriff's Office Web page, School District 6 in Spartanburg County, SC, has a uniformed policeman -- called a School Resource Officer -- in every school. The officer assigned to the Child Development Center is Master Deputy Mike Gibson. Students think of him as their friend, but one little boy needed more. (We'll call him Billy, not his real name.)  Billy began calling Gibson Officer Dad, and then just Dad. Gibson found Billy had been abused and was floating from one foster home to another. Because of behavior problems, experts felt Billy was unadoptable, but Gibson disagreed. He believed Billy was "something God put in my path. I feel that God's telling me we can help this one."

                                                                                                                          Photo courtesy of WYFF

In 2014, Gibson and his wife went through months of classes to be certified to become Billy's foster parents. Then the Gibsons, who already have three children, adopted him. What happened next? "Between us, the stability he had at home and in class, he was able to literally thrive," Gibson says. Gibson's wife Kimber agrees Billy is "as normal and sweet as any child you'd ever meet." Now six years old, Billy was named a "Terrific Kid" at school. Thank you, Officer Dad!