PUTNAM COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – There’s a new honorary sheriff’s deputy in Putnam County!

Putnam County Sheriff Bobby Eggleton deputized 3-year-old Mattix Snedegar on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. They even brought out a sheriff’s department cruiser, flashing lights and all, for the occasion.

The sheriff’s office and Matix’s family say Mattix was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer when he was just four months old. His grandfather says he has undergone brain surgery and years of chemotherapy. They say this special surprise really lifted Mattix’s spirits.

“He’s a very tough and resilient little guy, but he always likes to be a policeman,” says Mattix’s grandfather John Snedegar. “He’s always giving somebody a ticket or putting the plastic handcuffs on him.”

Mattix even got to arrest the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas!” That Grinch may have been disguised in a Santa Claus suit, but he wasn’t fooling anyone!

The Make-A-Wish Foundation helped make Mattix’s wish come true. He even got his own police car with flashing lights and a toy police dog!