South Toms River Girl Gets Her Own NJ State Police Uniform
SOUTH TOMS RIVER, NJ — Watch out, South Toms River: There's a new trooper in town.
Sophia Colavito, the South Toms River girl who is fighting cancer, received a special delivery Friday from Col. Patrick Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police: her very own New Jersey State Police uniform.
Sophia, who turned 5 on Friday, has developed a special relationship with police and other first responders as she battles optic glioma — a tumor on her optic nerve. Sophia was diagnosed with the tumor behind her eye in late February, after months of searching for the cause of severe headaches.
South Toms River and Lavallette police reached out to help the family, and a simple gift of their patches led to Sophia receiving hundreds of patches from all over the world. Read more: South Toms River Girl's Police Patch Request Gets Worldwide Reply
New Jersey State Police took notice as well.
"We made Sophia an honorary trooper a few months back," Callahan said Friday during Gov. Phil Murphy's coronavirus news conference. "When the folks at Blauer, who make our uniforms, heard about it, they asked for her sizes and made her a customized New Jersey State Police uniform."
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Lindsay Colavito, Sophia's mother, who has been sharing Sophia's journey on the Fight With Fi Facebook page, shared photos of the special birthday present delivery.
"Sophia had a very special start to her day!" Lindsay Colavito wrote. "Colonel Callahan and some of our State Trooper friends stopped by to wish Sophia a VERY Happy Birthday, and to present her with her very own State Trooper uniform!"
Callahan said they were glad to present Sophia with the uniform.
"She has the courage, perseverance and strength of a Jersey trooper," he said.
"I would just caution the folks in South Toms River, be mindful of the posted speed limits, because she's on the job," Callahan said with a chuckle.
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This article originally appeared on the Toms River Patch
