Cedar Park Police Honor Girl's Heroic Fight Against Cancer

CEDAR PARK, TX — What is the nature of heroism? Some find heroes among mythical archetypes of lore while while others turn to popular culture in identifying with swashbuckling, often caped, superheroes. Still others prefer to look to real-life figures — doctors, nurses, paraedics, police or firefighters — in attaching a heroic label given their life-saving work.

For local police officers, heroism comes in pint-sized form manifested by one of their younger fans. As seen on the Cedar Park Police Department's Twitter page, 7-year-old Haley is the true embodiment of a hero to them.

Hearing of the little girl's admiration for police officers, the department invited her to the police station to learn more about their work firsthand. Set to music, the video shows the palpable joy she derives as she peers into a police vehicle, sits atop a motorcycle, pets a police canine and is outfitted with a protective vest.

What makes Haley a hero? She's fighting cancer after being diagnosed last year, but is fighting with a brand of bravery that belies her young age. For Cedar Park cops — who many would label as heroic figures themselves for their daily work in protecting the community — Haley is the true hero.

On their Twitter page, police describe Haley as "one of the toughest 7-year-olds we’ve ever met." After learning of her admiration for the work officers perform on a daily basis, the police department reflexively invited her to the cop shop to meet their diminutive fan.

"We heard she likes police officers, so we treated her to a day at the station," police wrote on Twitter. "Stay strong Haley! This team of blue has your back."

Strength. Courage. Determination. Those three words could easily be used to describe police officers. But the descriptors were used by the officers themselves in describing their little fan following their visit before adding: "You're our hero, Haley!"