A "Gangnam Style" video made by members of Devon and Cornwall Police in Falmouth has now been posted on the Force YouTube site.
Sergeant Gary Watts persuaded colleagues from the town station to join him in a public re-creation of the cult music video by South Korean rapper Psy, to raise funds for a young boy left with disabilities following treatment for a brain tumour.
Josh Wilson, 12, from Bury, now has severe neuromuscular disabilities that require a fully-adapted home. His family needs to raise £25,000 to pay for a ceiling track hoist, a special medical bath, building work and other basic equipment.
Sgt Watts first came into contact with Josh when someone made a request on Twitter for a police helmet on behalf of Josh, who is a big fan of the police and fire service.
Sgt Watts helped to get the request authorised and a pre-used helmet in good condition was sent to Josh.
"I had some lovely messages about the gesture, not only from Josh and his mum Dawn, but from all over the world after people saw PC Josh proudly wearing his Devon and Cornwall Police helmet," he said.
Towards the end of December 2012, prolific tweeter Sgt Watts got into a conversation about the Gangnam Style video and the number of hits it had had on YouTube. He agreed to replicate the dance if he gained another 1,000 Twitter followers by the end of the year.
"It had taken me two- and-a-half years to get 4,000 so I felt safe. How wrong I was!" he said.
Pete Appleyard from Roseland Media and Emma Rushton from the BBC took up the challenge and Sgt Watts' follower count increased by more than 1,000 within a few days.
"Once it dawned on me that this could really happen I wanted to make something good come from it. Early in Pete and Emma's campaign I suggested that if I could get approval then I would want to raise money and awareness for Josh."
The footage was filmed around Falmouth last week.
"A few clips of the filming have already made it out onto the Internet and have been viewed around the world," said Sgt Watts. "People have already donated money to Josh's fund including an anonymous donation of £100 at Falmouth police station.
"I hoped that we would raise at least £100 for Josh but much more than that has now been donated. This makes the humiliation much easier to bear!"
Anyone wanting to donate to Joshua's Journey fund can do so here.
The video was recorded, edited and produced at no cost by Pete Appleyard and the team from Roseland Media, and the officers completed the video in their own time.
Sergeant Gary Watts persuaded colleagues from the town station to join him in a public re-creation of the cult music video by South Korean rapper Psy, to raise funds for a young boy left with disabilities following treatment for a brain tumour.
Josh Wilson, 12, from Bury, now has severe neuromuscular disabilities that require a fully-adapted home. His family needs to raise £25,000 to pay for a ceiling track hoist, a special medical bath, building work and other basic equipment.
Sgt Watts first came into contact with Josh when someone made a request on Twitter for a police helmet on behalf of Josh, who is a big fan of the police and fire service.
Sgt Watts helped to get the request authorised and a pre-used helmet in good condition was sent to Josh.
"I had some lovely messages about the gesture, not only from Josh and his mum Dawn, but from all over the world after people saw PC Josh proudly wearing his Devon and Cornwall Police helmet," he said.
Towards the end of December 2012, prolific tweeter Sgt Watts got into a conversation about the Gangnam Style video and the number of hits it had had on YouTube. He agreed to replicate the dance if he gained another 1,000 Twitter followers by the end of the year.
"It had taken me two- and-a-half years to get 4,000 so I felt safe. How wrong I was!" he said.
Pete Appleyard from Roseland Media and Emma Rushton from the BBC took up the challenge and Sgt Watts' follower count increased by more than 1,000 within a few days.
"Once it dawned on me that this could really happen I wanted to make something good come from it. Early in Pete and Emma's campaign I suggested that if I could get approval then I would want to raise money and awareness for Josh."
The footage was filmed around Falmouth last week.
"A few clips of the filming have already made it out onto the Internet and have been viewed around the world," said Sgt Watts. "People have already donated money to Josh's fund including an anonymous donation of £100 at Falmouth police station.
"I hoped that we would raise at least £100 for Josh but much more than that has now been donated. This makes the humiliation much easier to bear!"
Anyone wanting to donate to Joshua's Journey fund can do so here.
The video was recorded, edited and produced at no cost by Pete Appleyard and the team from Roseland Media, and the officers completed the video in their own time.
