Police officers, medics and firefighters made a surprise visit to the Pierro family in east Vancouver on Sunday afternoon, bearing gifts and well-wishes that the rest of family’s holiday season will be as uneventful as possible, as a change of pace.

“It was a complete roller coaster,” Scott Pierro said of the past few weeks.

The weekend before Thanksgiving started on a high note for the Pierros. That Friday, their 6-year-old daughter, Kierra, earned her first belt at taekwondo. On Saturday, her 13-year-old brother, Alexander, earned his second-degree black belt.

That Sunday, while the two kids were playing outside, Kierra fell.

“She collapsed, right there,” Christine Pierro said, pointing at the front of the house.

Alexander found that his sister wasn’t breathing, then ran to get his parents, Christine Pierro said. They called 911 and performed CPR until an officer arrived and took over, followed by medics and firefighters.

An ambulance rushed Kierra to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, and then she was taken to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland.

Doctors gave Kierra, who previously had surgery for a heart defect, a pacemaker.

“We spent Thanksgiving at the hospital,” Scott Pierro said.

Vancouver police Officer Tanya Wollstein said her group of officers likes to do a squad Christmas project each year, helping out a family in need, and Kierra’s case stood out, as it was one of them who responded with an automated emergency defibrillator.