North Texas police, firefighters help 3-year-old battling rare brain tumor live out his dreams

By Caroline Vandergriff

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    COPPELL, Texas (KTVT) — A North Texas little boy who’s battling a rare brain tumor got to live out one of his biggest dreams Monday, thanks to Coppell police and firefighters.

The Coppell Police Department made three-year-old Benedict “Benny” Schiefelbein the honorary police chief for the day.

“To have this moment of joy – I think it’s for Benedict, and I think it’s for us too,” said Jeff Schiefelbein, Benny’s father. “That we can look back and see this. This is going to be a day we won’t ever forget.”

Benny will soon start radiation and chemotherapy. Before the Schiefelbeins enter a world of daily sedation and gut-wrenching side effects, they want to make as many good memories as possible.

“He’s running around, he’s happy, he hasn’t started treatment, so we’re going to celebrate him,” said Amanda Schiefelbein, Benny’s mother.

The little boy’s dream job?

“He likes to switch between police officer and firefighter,” his dad said.

Monday, he got to be both.

“The whole ordeal is weighing on them more than we even realize,” said Coppell Police Chief Danny Barton. “So if we can give them even one great day, one great memory, just to make one hour or one minute feel a little better, then it was well worth it.”

The fire department also rolled out the red carpet for Benny with his very own firefighter uniform. After a VIP tour of the engines, the ambulance and the station, he even got to spray the fire hose.

“This has been a dream come true for everybody in our family,” Schiefelbein said. “I feel a little overwhelmed by all the support and love from all the people who made this possible.”

Schiefelbein and his wife Amanda knew 2024 was going to be a busy year, but they never expected to receive an unexpected diagnosis for one of their seven children.

Their youngest baby was born in late January, and they moved into a new home in Coppell the following week. In the unpacking process, their oldest daughter rediscovered her golf clubs.

“I didn’t think much of it, but she didn’t put the golf clubs away and the little boys got a hold of them,” Schiefelbein said. “The four-year-old Ambrose swung the golf club and hit the three-year-old Benedict in the back of the head.”

Schiefelbein took Benedict to the clinic to get him checked out, thinking they’d be home that night.

“That was towards the end of February, and what happened next changed our whole world,” he said.

Scans found a rare brain tumor that would need to be removed within 48 hours.

“It was one of those life-defining moments, where everything stops,” said Amanda. “I know that from this moment forward, it’s what happened before the brain tumor and what happens after the brain tumor.”

Tests have shown the tumor is a combination of several different types of cancer. Because it’s so rare, it’s not clear what the best protocol or treatment plan will be.

“The miracle was the beginning,” Amanda said. “Being able to find this tumor before any symptoms set in is almost unheard of.”

Now, the Schiefelbeins are leaning on their faith and on each other to get through the next phase of this journey.

“We’re prayerful, hopeful, faithful, and we’ve been going through the stages of grief and it’s exhausting,” Schiefelbein said. “We’re grateful we have such amazing friends and family and a home team to help us keep together, but it’s still really hard.”

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