Desmond Benimoff has been battling leukemia for the past year. He’s been so strong and so incredibly brave throughout, but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy. His mom, Meghan Benimoff, wanted to make Christmas extra special for him, so she surprised him with a new best friend! His reaction is simply beautiful.
“I have been wanting to get Desmond a kitty for quite some time now. Our cat, Olive, passed away last year when Desmond just got out of the hospital. The day she passed away, we were admitted to Oishei Children’s Hospital again for a high fever. We were there for about a week. Des took the loss very hard and being in the hospital was hard for him to grieve again. The child life specialists brought him books about losing a pet and even remembrance seeds to plant in Olive’s memory. I started to think that a kitten would be just what he needed – what both of us needed. And what better time than Christmas to surprise him. Once the oncology team approved that he could get a new cat, I contacted Niagara SPCA for help. We love animals and support adopting, not shopping. I am so thankful that Bailey was able to be taken care of by her wonderful foster parents at the shelter for a month before I was able to pick her up. On Christmas, Desmond came home from his Dad’s and opened all of his gifts. Then I told him that Santa had one last special gift for him. When Desmond took Bailey out of the gift bag, the smile on his face made my heart so happy. He has been through so much this past year and to see such joy on his face made this a truly joyous Christmas. I cannot wait to see how Desmond and Bailey’s relationship grows. She follows him everywhere already and cuddled him all night. We are truly blessed. ”
