Six-year-old girl with incurable cancer becomes police officer for the day

'Her terrific smile and will to keep fighting 'the bad guys' inside of her – I wanted to make her dream come true'

A six-year-old with terminal cancer has fulfilled her dream of becoming a police officer.

Abigal Arias, who suffers from stage-four Wilms tumour, a rare kidney cancer in children, worked in law enforcement for the day after she was sworn in as an honorary officer for the Freeport Police Department.

Wearing a tailor-made uniform while standing on a stepladder, the youngster from Texas pledged to “keep fighting the bad guys” at a ceremony attended by her family and police officers from around the state.

Freeport Police Chief Ray Garivey fought back tears as he helped make the little girl’s dream a reality.

“Her spirit, her toughness, her will to survive, that’s what [we believe in],“ Mr Garivey told CNN.

“Her terrific smile and will to keep fighting ‘the bad guys’ inside of her – I wanted to make her dream come true. You have to meet her to really understand what a great and inspiring young lady she is.”

Abigail was first diagnosed in 2017 and after 80 rounds of chemotherapy was in remission for five months, but the disease returned in both lungs.

She had shared her wish of becoming a police chief with Mr Garivey in December when the pair met at the force’s “Pancakes with Santa” event.

Touched by her story, he started to set the wheels in motion to make her an officer. He reached out to an organisation in neighbouring Pearland called Cop Stop and asked for a custom Freeport police uniform made especially for Abigail.

Mr Garivey added: “She is no doubt God-sent. Her story brought police officers from all over today into one room and it was a magical moment for all who were in attendance.”

During her special day, she got to travel in a police car and was treated to a doughnut.