I wish to have a miniature goldendoodle puppy
Maelin-Kate
6
blood disorder
Maelin-Kate’s Wish for a Puppy Unites Her Community
Maelin-Kate’s mom, Megan, describes her as “the happiest human that’s ever been created.” At 6 years old, Maelin-Kate loves playing with dolls, having her nails painted and collecting unicorns. Despite her joyful disposition, Maelin-Kate battles a blood disorder that requires many intensive treatments and long stays in the hospital.
After waiting a year for a donor, Maelin-Kate was finally able to have a much-needed bone marrow transplant. However, the procedure didn’t go as smoothly as her doctors had hoped. “She got really, really sick,” Megan said. “At one point, things got really scary and really bad, but thankfully, Mae came out of it on the other side.”
While recovering from her transplant, Maelin-Kate met a nurse who was a former wish kid. Her nurse told her about Make-A-Wish®, giving Maelin-Kate something hopeful to hold onto as she healed. As she thought about what she wanted to wish for, Maelin-Kate remembered how, in the weeks leading up to her surgery, she and her mom started finding pennies in the most unlikely places. Maelin-Kate kept them in a box and called them her “pennies from God.” She had told her mom that God would gift her with a puppy named Penny that would “look like a teddy bear.”
Maelin-Kate knew that her wish was an opportunity to finally have Penny, the cuddly furry friend she’d dreamed about. On her wish day, Maelin-Kate’s community rallied around her to make her reveal as exciting as possible, as part of the Kids For Wish Kids program, directed at involving the youth community in wish-granting efforts. Maelin-Kate was led through the doors of a local high school where she was greeted by the roaring cheers of students as they waved signs celebrating her wish. The cheerleaders even prepared a celebratory dance to commemorate the occasion.
When Maelin-Kate saw her miniature goldendoodle puppy for the first time, she leaped into the air in a moment of pure joy, a wide grin on her face. The two shared an instant connection, with Penny planting puppy kisses all over Maelin-Kate’s face. Soon, Maelin-Kate and Penny got inside a motorized toy jeep and paraded through the halls of the high school as the students clapped, cheered and shouted words of support.
Maelin-Kate beamed with joy the entire time, taking pauses every few minutes to hug Penny and pet her head. “Seeing the happiness in my daughter’s eyes was amazing, it was pure excitement and love,” Megan said.
Today, Maelin-Kate and Penny are inseparable. Maelin-Kate wakes up early in the morning to brush Penny’s glossy gold coat and feed her. She loves to give her baths and cuddle with her on the couch while they watch movies together. “Mae talks about how much she loves [Penny] every day,” Megan said. “It's just the best wish. And our puppy is everything that we dreamed that she would be and probably a lot more. She means the world to Mae.”