Officers Show Up in Force to Grant Birthday Wish

By all accounts, Brayden Williams is a hero. By definition, a hero is a person who is admired for courage, or noble qualities. It seems fitting then, that the very heroes he admires for their courage took a moment to celebrate his 7th birthday with him.

Brayden, a first grader at Prairie Branch Elementary, has been fighting since birth. Born at 31 weeks, he endured a host of issues before his first birthday.

At the age of one, an inoperable tumor was discovered and Brayden has endured multiple rounds of chemo, surgery at the age of 5, and a clinical trial which began in October. Brayden has endured all known treatments, and the family remains hopeful this clinical trial will yield positive results. Through it all, Brayden’s family focuses on enjoying fun activities as a family.

“Going through something like this changes your whole outlook. None of the small stuff, like having a spotless house, matters. We focus on fun and try to spend a lot of quality time together as a family,” Julie Williams, Brayden’s mom, said.

Trying to add a little fun surprise to Brayden’s birthday, Julie reached out to a family friend who is a detective in Lee’s Summit, to invite him to Brayden’s party to have cake.

Brayden loves the police and Julie knew he would love to have a visit from a police officer at his party. Julie did not anticipate what would come of her simple request.

Her friend made a few calls to fellow officers, and on the sunny Saturday afternoon of Brayden’s party,

Jackson County Sheriff’s Office deputies, a K-9 officer, the Sheriff’s Office tactical vehicle, representatives from Grain Valley and other local police departments, and a parade of motorcycles arrived.

“We had a few neighbors either walk down or drive by to see what was going on. I think they were expecting something bad was happening,” Julie said.

Brayden greeted his unexpected guests with great enthusiasm, and enjoyed checking out all the vehicles and tactical gear.

After the party, one set of heroes dispersed to return to their duties and another returned inside to enjoy cake, some Xbox, and treasured time with his family.

Brayden Williams, a 7-year old Grain Valley resident battling brain cancer, checked out one of the vehicles local police units brought to celebrate his birthday on January 5th. Photo credit: Jackson County Sheriff’s Office