Teen Cancer Survivor Thanks Fairfield Police for Helping Him Survive

Amid the negative press police officers have received recently, a Fairfield teen wanted to lift the spirits of officers who did the same for him when he was 4 years old and diagnosed with cancer.

It worked.

Cameron Yates, 18, who is now a college freshman, wrote a moving tribute to police officers on “Law Enforcement Appreciation Day” and described the amazing lift they gave him when he was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and all they did for him, according to Fox CT.

Yates wrote that when he was 4 years old he “idolized” police officers and was “obsessed with all things law enforcement, and I wanted nothing more than to be a cop.”

A neighbor worked at the Fairfield Police Department and mentioned Yates’ obsession with police officers to Capt. Dave Peck, who then talked to Chief Joe Sambrook about it.

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From there, Yates wrote, “Chief Sambrook began doing just about everything he possibly could to involve the Police Department in my life. Patrol officers started visiting my house almost every day. Some of them – Officers Bill Demotses and Jim Cheuka – would arrive on their Harley police motorcycles – others came in patrol cars or on bikes. No matter the vehicle, though, I always got to play with the lights and sirens.”

Yates often received gifts from officers, like a collection of police patches from each department in the area or model police cars, and one time received a full FPD uniform and motorcycle helmet. He also rode with Sambrook in the Fairfield Memorial Day Parade until Sambrook’s retirement and continued with new chief Dave Peck for a few more years.

Yates wrote that he shared his story “both to thank the men and women of the Fairfield Police Department for all they did for me when I was sick, and to offer anyone who reads it a different perspective on law enforcement than the one being shown in the news recently. Though I am no longer mesmerized by police lights and sirens like I was at four years old, there is still a part of me that wants to be a cop, in the hope that I might change someone’s life in the way the Fairfield Police Department changed mine.”

Upon reading Yates’ tribute, the Fairfield Police Department posted on its Facebook page:

“Thank you Cameron for this heartfelt letter of thanks. We greatly appreciate your kind words and thank you for sharing your story.”

Read the full story at Fox CT here.

Image via Fox CT

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