‘Junior Officer’ Receives Overwhelming Support After 10th Spinal Surgery

Junior Officer Leah Photo by Yarmouth Police Department

Things have never been easy for Leah Archambault.

The 8-year-old girl from Yarmouth recently underwent her 10th spinal surgery in three years, just weeks after the death of her father, who died of cardiac arrest, according to the Cape Cod Times.

Leah, who suffers from diastematomyelia, a rare congenital condition that “splits” the spinal cord, was abandoned as a baby in China before she was adopted along with her two sisters by Johanna Archambault and her late husband, Randy.

It’s been a tough road for Leah, but her local police department has done everything in its power to help their “junior officer” out, especially after her latest surgery.

While recovering at the Boston Children’s Hospital this week, Leah was overwhelmed by all of the letters and well-wishes she received thanks to a call out on social media by the Yarmouth Police Department. The bins of cards and packages were stacked so high, it completely overflowed the hospital’s mail room.

 
Since meeting a group of officers at an event in 2012, Leah has maintained a special relationship with Yarmouth Police. According to the Times, the “junior officer” visits the station often and even celebrates her birthday there.

“She’s one of a kind,” Deputy Chief Steven Xiarhos told WHDH.

Thankfully, Leah is doing fine after her nearly 12-hour surgery, according to the Yarmouth Police Department’s Facebook page.

“She is doing pretty well and told us she is very happy to be several centimeters taller,” wrote police.

If you’d like to send Leah a card or a gift, Yarmouth Police are asking people to send them to the department’s headquarters at One Brad Erickson Way, West Yarmouth.