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Video: Teen fighting cancer gets a different kind of ticket from police officer

Posted at 8:39 AM, Dec 26, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-26 08:39:59-05

SAUKVILLE, Wisc. (WITI)— After a rough year spent in and out of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for a rare, life-threatening condition, a Saukville teenager got a Christmas surprise from her dad. The big surprise wasn’t only the gift — but how he delivered it.

It all started back on November 21st, when Audra Daniloff was pulled over by a Saukville police officer. The officer told her at the time it was because she rolled through a stop sign. In reality, it was a setup.

“I got some good news and some bad news for you, okay?” said the officer. “The bad news, first I am giving you two tickets. But they are not the type of tickets you think. One is a plane ticket to New York. The other is a concert ticket for your favorite band.”

Audra Daniloff

“I completely blind sided her, thanks to the wonderful help of the Saukville Police Department,” said Audra’s father, Marc Daniloff.

About a year ago, Marc almost lost his daughter to a rare condition, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, also known as HLH. It attacked Audra’s immune system and put her in Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for 58 days.

“She had about a 20 percent chance of getting out of there alive,” Marc said.

She has been back countless times for treatment.

Audra Daniloff meets Timeflies

After all of that, Marc decided she deserved a trip see and meet her favorite band, Timeflies, in concert in New York  just wasn’t enough. He decided it had to be a surprise.

“I thought it was a great idea,” said Saukville Police Chief Jeffrey Goetz. “He had given me a little back story on what his daughter had been through and thought that this concert would make her day if she got to go to New York — and we were happy to be a part of that.”

Goetz says not only did it make Audra’s day, but it meant a lot to the police department as well — despite any criticism they might get for, maybe, wasting their resources.

“I think that’s exactly what our resources should be used for,” said Goetz.

Audra continues to get treatment at Children’s Hospital. In fact, she was there getting an infusion on Tuesday, December 23, and did not feel well enough to talk with FOX6 News.

But Audra’s dad assures us his daughter is on the mend, and plans to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison for college next year. She’ll be studying to be a child life specialist, a field of caregivers who work at children’s hospitals.