Rylan Pruitt, 6-year-old honorary Fort Worth police officer who fought cancer, has died
Rylan “Officer Beans” Pruitt, a 6-year-old from Fort Worth who was diagnosed with cancer in 2021, died Thursday.
Rylan was known to family and supporters as a kid who was almost always happy, even on some of the most difficult days. He loved Power Rangers, Spider-Man, pepperoni pizza and McDonald’s chicken nuggets. He loved police and firefighters and, in January, became an honorary police officer.
He joined Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes on Jan. 26, wearing a Fort Worth Police Department uniform shirt decorated with the police department’s badges and his last name embroidered near a front pocket. He wore blue and red Spider-Man shoes as he was sworn in as an honorary police officer.
With his right hand lifted, Rylan recited a pledge “to faithfully execute the duties of the office of peace officer of the state of Texas” and to do his best to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States and of this state.”
After diagnosis of a brain tumor, Rylan went through 30 rounds of radiation treatment and underwent four months of chemotherapy as he and his doctors and family tried to beat the cancer. Things were looking up, then scans done at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis showed that Rylan’s cancer had metastasized to his spine.
Marissa Pruitt, Rylan’s mom, said she learned a lot from him in his six years.
“He taught me what love is, unconditional love,” Marissa told the Star-Telegram in a video sent via email. “He taught me what it means to live life to the fullest, wake up every day, be grateful that you have another day. Taught me to smile and he happy on the rainiest days. He taught me that you can’t control everything, and that ... as his mom, as badly as I wanted to save him, I couldn’t. But what I can do, is I can make his legacy known to more than just a couple thousand.”
Rylan’s family has visitation planned for Monday at Northwood Church, 1870 Rufe Snow Drive in Keller, from 4 to 8 p.m. A funeral service is scheduled for Tuesday at the same church, starting at 11 a.m.
Police and firefighters are asked to wear uniforms, other adults to wear red and blue, and kids to wear superhero costumes or pajamas. Because of Rylan’s love of motorcycles, his family has asked bikers to come to “shake the ground.”
