7-year-old beats cancer, takes on crime
SPOKANE, Wash. – Sierra Shank is a fighter.
The 7-year-old battled Hodgkin's Lymphoma with five rounds of chemotherapy and 14 rounds of radiation.
She beat cancer, but the shy, sweet girl still surprised everyone when she said she really wanted to be a police officer for a day.
The Spokane Police Department and Make-A-Wish Foundation helped make her dream come true.
Her big day began with testing for and graduating from the police academy. Sierra even took an oath promising to protect and serve. After training, she arrested a robbery suspect who was spotted along the Spokane River. Then, it was over to Air 1 where she got to see the chopper up close and personal.
Next, she got word that the suspect she arrested earlier had escaped and was hiding at the Spokane Law Enforcement Credit Union. With help from K-9 Murphy, she nabbed the bad guy once again.
Then, Sierra made her way to City Hall, where Mayor David Condon thanked her for her service as Spokane's newest police officer.
Her mother couldn't help but fight a few tears seeing total strangers do so much for her daughter.
"How can you say thank you to all these people?" said Sierra's mother Michelle. "I don't even know. I don't have the words."
Sierra's cancer is in remission. For now, she doesn't have to worry about fighting the disease.
She can just revel in the memories of fighting crime for a day.