CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The death of Corpus Christi police officer Alan McCollum on Friday has struck the hearts of many in the Coastal Bend.
One local artist decided to memorialize McCollum with a special gift to his family.
"This one was tough, like I said, because she didn't know she was going to receive the gift, and I didn't know how she was going to receive the gift emotionally," Daniel De Leon said.
De Leon used acrylic paint and spent eight hours non-stop crafting a 3-foot image of the fallen hero. He handed the final product to the McCollum family.
"You could tell she was grateful. And I didn't realize her kids were going to be there, so that made me kind of like emotional," De Leon said.
Daniel wanted to give the family an everyday reminder of the splendid service and sacrifice their father gave.
"Stood there with them for a while, and her kids walked up, and I was like, Woah. This is a pretty heavy moment. There was a lot of other police officers around that were like thanks a lot thanks for doing that and that kind of felt good, it was validation, a pat on the back, I'm glad I could give something back," De Leon said.
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