When he died, his family paid tribute to his colourful personality and wonderful smile.
And now little Hamish Hey, who was eight when he died in February after his second battle with cancer, is being remembered by images of rainbows displayed on police cars windows in his home town of Nairn.
The rainbow logos have been drawn by his 10-year-old sister, Lily, and accompanied by the words #TEAMHAMISH.
Hamish lived in Nairn with his parents and sister and, since his death, they have been fundraising to build a special family area in the town.
Nairn police officer PC Lisa Cran, who is keen to support the fundraising initiative, said: “I spoke with local Inspector Mike Middlehurst and we thought that the best way to spread the word and support the family would be to add rainbows onto some of our patrol vehicles.
“I got in touch with the Hey family and they attended a few weeks ago at the station in Nairn and Lily drew rainbows on the vehicles.
“The family were very grateful for our support and said Hamish would have loved this idea as he loved ‘NEE NAWS.’ Although the rainbows have only been on for just over a week we’ve already had a number of positive comments about them. I hope, in some small way, they help promote the Hey family’s project.”
Hamish was just three when he was first diagnosed with a rare soft tissue cancer. After months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he underwent pioneering surgery which resulted in him getting a prosthetic leg.
But after years of follow-up checks and medication, Hamish was diagnosed with an incurable, aggressive brain stem tumour in March 2016.
He subsequently received 30 sessions of radiotherapy to give him more time to spend with his family.
Shortly after his death, parents Sam and Susan Hey said their son had “never complained and remained smiling almost to the end,” despite his years of hardship.
And Mr Hey described him as a “brave, caring and positive person” with a “wonderful wit” who came out with “lots of one-liners”.
Inspector Mike Middlehurst said: “Hamish sounded like a very special little boy and we were only too pleased to support his family with their campaign. We hope it’s not long before they reach their target.”
