Palatine police officers, firefighters welcome back boy who is now cancer free

The last time Angel Becerra visited the Palatine police department, he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

Through the efforts of a social worker, Angel’s family made a connection with police, and officers arranged a special day for Angel, who met with 40 officers.

Fast forward to Wednesday. Angel, now an 11-year-old student at the Winston Campus Middle School, is cancer free and welcomed back at police headquarters.

Both officers and firefighters greeted Angel, his father, Alejandro Castro, his mother, Araceli Barrera Tello, and his younger brother Marcos.

Angel, who by this time said he wants to be a firefighter, sat in a fire engine, posed for pictures and then toured the police department offices, where he received gifts, including a police whistle and a Glorious Mission Transformation set.

“Sometime over the summer, his mom reached out to me,” Palatine police Commander David Brandwein said. “We talked about him maybe coming out again just to say hi to everybody.”

She told him Angel was in remission and was done with his treatments.

The family has endured a journey to reach this point, though.

Three years ago, Angel reported feeling tired and having pain in his leg. He was diagnosed and then underwent treatment at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

Now all Angel needs to do is go back to the hospital for monthly checkups over the next year, his mother, Araceli Barrera Tolle, said.