Kelcie Grega / Las Vegas Sun
Abigail Arias reacts to seeing her birthday cake during a party on Friday, June 28, 2019, at Nevada Highway Patrol headquarters in Las Vegas. The 7-year-old Texas girl, who is fighting a childhood form of cancer, was flown to Las Vegas with her family for the party. Local officials became aware of her through a viral video in which she was made an honorary police officer in her hometown of Freeport, Texas.
Friday, June 28, 2019 | 1:42 p.m.
Like the Marvel superheroes she’s crazy about, Abigail Arias says she’s on a mission to “fight the bad guys.”
Only in this 7-year-old’s case, she’s facing a very real threat. “Bad guys” is the term she uses for the cancer she’s been battling since 2017. Abigail has Wilms tumor, a type of childhood cancer that begins in the kidneys. In her case, it has spread to her lungs and recently doubled in size.
But the little girl whose dream is to become a police officer says she’s not giving up. And this morning, members of the Nevada Highway Patrol Southern Command showed their support for her by throwing her a birthday party at their headquarters on Sunset Road.
Abigail and her family, who live in south Texas, were given a police escort from McCarran International Airport to NHP headquarters, where she was greeted with her favorite superheroes, along with law enforcement and local residents. Local officials became aware of the girl with cropped curls and a toothy smile through a viral video of her being sworn in as an honorary police officer in Freeport near her hometown.
Here in Nevada, Abigail received the red-carpet treatment outside NHP headquarters while riding a child-sized police cruiser in her Freeport police uniform. Inside, she received an array of gifts of her favorite things, including sidewalk chalk, a softball and a princess coloring book. She was also made an honorary member of the Avengers by Captain America.
But she said her favorite gift was seeing everyone coming to her birthday party to support her.
“I felt lots of love and lots of support and it filled my heart with lots and lots of care and love,” she said.
Lawrence Pleskow, of the nonprofit When U Dream A Dream, facilitated the surprise party after coming across the video, where Arias made her pledge to fight the bad guys until all her cancer is gone.
“I watched it 100 times,” he said. “It had a great affect on me.”
Pieskow, who uses his charity to help terminally ill children’s “dreams come true,” is opening a branch of the non-profit in Las Vegas.
Trooper Travis Smaka said when Pleskow reached out to NHP about throwing a surprise party for Abigail, he and his colleagues knew they had to make the day special for her. He said they went out of their way to pull the strings for a police escort, something that’s typically only reserved for high-ranking public officials.
For Smaka, it’s Abigail’s “unbelievable strength and resilience” that touch him.
“Somebody so young, so innocent, she just displays so much courage and just projects so much positivity,” he said. “She’s an incredible little girl and so sweet.”
Freeport Police Chief Ray Garivey, who also was part of the traveling party, said he met Abigail and her family at a Christmas event. When he learned that it was her dream to someday become a police officer, he decided to make that dream come true for her.
“It’s been an inspiration to millions all over the world,” Garivey said. “We received emails, letters, text messages from cops all over the world that are saying, ‘Finally, something positive for (law enforcement).”
Abigail’s father, Ruben Arias, said he had been overwhelmed by the blessings his family has received since his daughters’ story went viral.
“What it all boils down to is that we’re seeing God at work,” he said.
