Carolina Police Help Out Michigan Family

A nine-year-old girl in Michigan is getting the wheelchair-accessible van her family needs to get her around, thanks to a pair of North Carolina police officers. 

Emmri Tullis was born with something calledcytomegalovirus - or CMV - which is related to the viruses that cause chickenpox, herpes simplex and mononucleosis. And she has many medical conditions, including epilepsy, microcephaly, mild hearing loss, compromised lungs and a compromised immune system. She’s outlived expectations and is now getting palliative care to help make the rest of the time she has as good as it can be.

And that’s where the cops come in. Emmri’s parents, Chelsey and Robert Banker, need a minivan that can be converted to be wheelchair accessible, but were struggling with financing it. They found out about a fundraiser and contest promoted on TikTok by North Carolina police officers Kevin Eudy of the Wingate Police Department and Josh Scales, who works as an officer in Forsyth County. The contest is getting the Banker family their new van and the officers are personally going to Michigan to take them to buy it.

“This is something that is going to dramatically change her quality of life,” Chelsey told the Battle Creek Enquirer. “This is going to make whatever time she has left here less painful and more enjoyable.”

In addition, the family's old van, which was purchased thanks to a fund raising effort keyed by WWMT-TV Channel 3, will be given to a North Carolina family who needs specialized transportation.