Six-year-old Madison Pruitt is battling a rare muscular cancer, but that hasn't stopped her from dreaming. For as long as she can remember, she has wanted to be a Chicago police officer. On Wednesday, she was all set to make a visit to police in the city's 6th District, but Madison wasn't feeling well enough for the trip.
"Her spirits are well, but she's doing pretty poorly at this point," Police Sgt. Ernest Bradley, of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy unit, told NBC Chicago.
But the police force wasn't going to disappoint Madison, who is receiving home hospice care. According to NBC Chicago, some 70 officers arrived at her home; some even showed up on patrol horses as part of the surprise.
"I never imagined that it would be this much," social worker Lindsay Wooster, of Journey Care Hospice, told the news station. "It's pretty incredible."
Interim Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson also surprised Madison, presenting her with an Award of Valor.
"It's just amazing the courage she's showing today," Johnson told NBC Chicago. "That gives us pause to think about our own mortality and families. That's the reason we do what we do."
Madison's grandmother Pamlor Nelson told the news station that it was a day she would never forget.
Read more at NBC Chicago.