Police officers drive 600 miles to bring gifts to hospitalized little girl for Christmas

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A group of police officers teamed up to give a 2-year-old girl with cancer a special Christmas, despite her being in a hospital 600 miles away. (Michigan State Police via CNN Newsource)

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ/CNN Newsource/WKRC) – A group of police officers teamed up to give a 2-year-old girl with cancer a special Christmas, despite her being in a hospital 600 miles away.

The young girl, 2-year-old Vialah White, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in September, just days before her second birthday. To receive effective treatment, White had to be taken nine and half hours away from her home to Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“She’s in a lot of pain for the most part, but surgery has been set to remove the tumor in her stomach,” explained White’s grandmother, Amy Colt.

A group of police officers teamed up to give a 2-year-old girl with cancer a special Christmas, despite her being in a hospital 600 miles away. (WXYZ, family handouts, Michigan State Police via CNN Newsource)
Colt explained her situation to a trooper from the Michigan State Police during a “shop with a cop” event, emphasizing how hard it was for her to be away from her grandchild, especially during the holidays.

“I couldn’t imagine the hopelessness, the overwhelming stress, the fear,” said Trooper Joe Renaud. “I felt compelled, along with the other troopers at my post and my lieutenant, to get together and just to do something.”

Renaud teamed up with his coworkers to drive from White’s original home in Wakefield, Michigan to Ann Arbor, roughly a 600 miles drive, to deliver 50 presents that the community donated.

“I drove as far as St. Ignace, Michigan, handed them off to a community service trooper there, who then drove downstate,” Renaud said. “Close to the Flint area, they made another swap and then that community service trooper continued on to the Motts Children’s Hospital.”

Renaud said he started driving at 3 a.m. on Monday, and the presents had reached White by the afternoon.

“It’s a blessing for them to step out the way they did, and so fast,” said Colt. “Thank you to everybody involved. It was a true Christmas miracle.”