Barnsley firefighters have helped a brave Sheffield boy battling cancer realise his dreams of being a firefighter for a day.

Kasabian Newton-Smith, aged eight, from Parson Cross, has been fighting cancer since he was two years old. Part of his ‘bucket list’ is to be a firefighter, and so a family friend decided to make it happen.

He visited Barnsley fire station, where white watch welcomed him on to the team for the day.

After getting to grips with the fire engine, Kasabian received a simulated call out to his first incident, when he hopped on to the fire engine and whizzed around the yard.

He also watched the crew demonstrate the cutting gear used at road traffic collisions and issued instructions to the firefighters, led by watch manager Nick Brown.

Kasabian’s dad, Simon Newton-Smith said “Kasabian had a fantastic day – white watch were brilliant hosts and made sure it was action packed from start to finish.”

Station Manager Damian Henderson said “Kasabian started off very shy at the beginning of the day, but once he’d had his first call out and had a go in the engine, he was giving me my orders! I think I speak on behalf of everybody at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue when I say what a pleasure it was to have Kasabian on station, and I feel privileged to have been a part of his big day.”