A small act of kindness by a local officer is now making a big difference in the life of a woman who’s battling cancer.
It all started with a routine traffic stop by officer Mike Tamez, who’s a special investigator with the Nueces County District Attorney’s Office. But he quickly realized after pulling over and talking to Cynthia Perez that this interaction would be much different.
“She said she was going to MD Anderson (Cancer Center). Well, I’ve had family — I think everybody has been impacted at one time or another with cancer,” Tamez said.
Just over a year ago, Perez was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer that’s rarely curable. Once she told officer Tamez about the odds, she remembers how compassionate he was to her and her 11-year-old son.
“I have to keep my head up. like he said, don’t give up because there’s a lot at stake. And I want to see my kids grow older and I’m going to do it,” Perez told KRIS 6 News.
After letting her go with a warning, Tamez knew he wanted to do more for Perez saying, “You just never know how long she’s going to have and her son needs to take advantage of every second that he has with her.”
So the officer mailed the mother and son a couple of gift cards and a greeting card with some heartfelt words. Perez was so overwhelmed that she decided to share it on Facebook.
“I want him to be recognized for something that he did for a stranger,” she explained.
Tamez said he appreciates the acknowledgment, but that’s not why he sent the items. He believes it’s part of his duties as an officer.
“Yeah, I helped her out a little bit but it helped me out a lot, like truly did. It reminded me of why i do this job,” the officer said.
Tamez described it as his personal mission to humanize the badge. He said it’s something his wife Rebecca has helped him fulfill.
“If everybody just would try to do one good deed everyday. It’s cliché but really and truly, it does make a difference,” Rebecca Tamez said.
Meantime, officer Tamez is now determined to continue making a difference for Cynthia Perez and ride the momentum of this now-viral Facebook post.
“Let’s use that platform for good to help out Ms. Perez and help out the other Ms. Perezes all over the state of Texas that we can.”
When asked about the officer’s commitment to help her, Perez said, “Bless him for everything that he’s doing for me.”
The Tamez family said it’s now in the process of trying to set up an account to coordinate financial assistance for Perez. As of Sunday evening, Cynthia Perez’s post had more than 1,200 likes and over 400 shares on Facebook.
