A smile from 4-year-old Johnathan Keen of Hope, Ark., gave a Christmas feeling to a "big belly sheriff" and four deputies.
Johnathan is a cancer patient at the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock and wants to be a deputy sheriff.
Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton recently appointed Johnathan as the "newest youngest deputy" in the Hempstead County Sheriff Department.
The new deputy was unable to attend the sheriff's department Christmas party in Hope because of illness and had to return to Arkansas Children's Hospital for additional treatment.
Johnathan is suffering from stage four neuroblastoma cancer.
Johnathan has already become part of the law enforcement brotherhood and the officers made sure his appointment went through on time Monday.
Singleton and four of his deputies, Investigator Justin Crane, Deputy Matt Dunham, Deputy Mike Braddock and Deputy Becky Billings, traveled to Little Rock to help take care of the "newest" deputy.
Johnathan attended the swearing-in ceremony resting on the hospital bed. Johnathan is the son of Eric and Andrea Keen of Hope. Singleton said Johnathan's father is a former sheriff department employee.
Singleton presented Johnathan with an official deputy's badge and a framed certificate appointing him an official Hempstead County deputy sheriff "Special Assistant to the Sheriff."
Johnathan was also assigned an official sheriff's battery-operated patrol car decked out with sheriff decals.
For a brief time, the nurses helped Johnathan drive the toy car down the hallway before he returned to his bed.
After the ceremony, the sheriff and his deputies presented Johnathan with presents.
Several business and citizens of Hempstead County contributed funds to buy Christmas presents for Johnathan's sister and brother, who were able to attend the Sheriff's Christmas Party last Friday night.
"Johnathan was pretty tickled and managed to smile. He was weak and you could tell he didn't feel too good," Singleton said.
"All of us have kids and some have grandkids. We wanted to make Christmas better than average. His smile made it Christmas," he said.
"His smile paid us off. We still need to pray so he can get the treatments he needs and to help his situation," Singleton said
The sheriff had made arrangements for Santa Claus to personally deliver those presents to his brother and sister.
The sheriff's department also helped five other families before Christmas.
Singleton described himself as the "big belly sheriff" and the deputies who had difficulty making it "emotionally through the ceremony," he said.
"I can't explain the feeling. It's just a Christmas feeling. It made Johnathan's day a little better," Singleton said.
"We thank all the citizens who helped us make Deputy Keen's Christmas a little brighter. Please keep Deputy Keen and his family in your prayers," he said.