7-Year-Old Fighting Cancer Gets 'Initiated' at Dallas Police Department

— -- For Andrea Culverhouse, a mother in the Texas suburb of Princeton, the last year and a half has been a battle -- but thanks to the Dallas Police Department, her family has a lasting memory to help them through the tougher times.

In December 2013, her oldest son Jack, now 7, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain stem tumor -- a cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. It's found in the brain stem and affects most natural movements of the body, including loss of motor skills and loss of swallowing.

Jack, whom his mother describes as very smart and responsible, underwent radiation treatment, and "was able to regain all of his functions back completely," she said. But by January 2015, Jack lost movement in his left side and was unable to swallow. They decided to do a clinical trial, which has "helped for a couple of months," Culverhouse said.

According to the DIPG registry, fewer than 10 percent of children with DIPG survive two years after their diagnosis.

"Jack has been fortunate enough, we've had about 16 months so far," Culverhouse told ABC News today. "But the tumor you can tell is growing, because he keeps having more progressive symptoms."

When the Dallas Police Department heard about Jack, officers decided to give the 7-year-old a day he wouldn't forget. On Friday, Jack and his family traveled to Dallas where the Police Department initiated him as a detective.

When they arrived at the station, they were greeted by officers -- including some who were dressed up as superheroes, Culverhouse said.

"As soon as [Jack] saw Captain America, he was excited," she said.

The Dallas Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.

Culverhouse said the police gave Jack a tour of the headquarters, made him a uniform, and even gave him a police badge with a special meaning -- it had the same number as his great-grandfather's police badge.

Culverhouse said her grandfather spent about 24 years as a detective with the Dallas Police, and when he retired, he worked another 26 years as a police chaplain. He died in 2012, Culverhouse said.

"We were all pretty close to my grandfather," she said. "Jack was about 5 [when he died]. But we lived across the street from my grandfather Jack's whole life.

"When [the officers] heard about Jack, they all said he's a superhero to them, because of him battling and fighting like this," she said. "They also do remember my grandfather, because my grandfather gave so much service to Dallas."

Culverhouse says the day at the police department was all about making "happy memories."

"[It] put a smile on his face -- that's what were trying to do," she said. "To try to make every day good and happy and try to do as many fun things as we can."

Despite Jack's disease, "He's completely aware," his mother says. "It doesn't affect his ability to think."

"Since learning of this horrible cancer we have seen so many kids die and so many are battling right now," she said. "I pray for a cure to save my son but I see him getting a little weaker every day.

"I just want him to be happy and not scared," she added.