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07-12-2006, 01:14 AM
Girl and pet dog share same cancer ordeal
By CHARLOTTE GILL, Daily Mail
20:00pm 10th July 2006
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/07/kearneyNNS100706_228x306.jpg
When little Emily Kearney was diagnosed with cancer, her parents decided to get her the dog she had always wanted to help her through.
They heard about Casper, an adorable Yorkshire terrier who needed rehoming, and immediately fell in love with him.
When six-year-old Emily came home after five months of intensive chemotherapy for Burkitt's lymphoma, the two became inseparable and Casper gave her the strength to beat the disease.
Now six years on, in an extraordinarily cruel coincidence, Casper has been diagnosed with the same cancer that Emily had.
Just as he did for her when she was ill, Emily, now 12, is making sure the dog she calls her 'brother' has all the love in the world to help him get better.
"Me and Emily just broke down when we heard," her mother Jackie, 42, said.
"When I was told about Emily's lymphoma it was like having your insides ripped out and when I was told about Casper, briefly I got that same feeling.
"Emily was heartbroken, we have to reassure her that he's going to get better. I said: "You've done it, you've survived."
I think it reassures her, the fact that she can compare his with hers and she knows she survived."
Emily was diagnosed with lymphoma in February 2000 after her mum took her to the dentist because one of her adult teeth was loose.
Tests discovered a tumour on her jaw then more in her stomach and kidney and she was sent straight to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary to start her treatment.
But after nearly five months of chemotherapy, Emily returned to the family home in Sunderland and her mother and father Mark, 44, decided to get a dog to help her recover.
"Emily has always loved dogs and always dreamed of having one but we couldn't really get one because we both worked," said Mrs Kearney.
"My mum has always had dogs so she's been around them since she was a baby. When she was in hospital, obviously no dogs could visit so we put up a picture of her nana's dog and our neighbour's dog to make her feel better.
"We decided to get her a dog when she came out, even if it meant I had to cut down on my hours, to help her recover."
Mrs Kearney, a classroom support assistant, and her husband, a painter and decorator, both work for the Tyne and Wear Autistic Society.
They heard about Casper through a kennel in Hartlepool. His owner's personal circumstances had changed and he needed a new home.
He arrived two weeks after Emily came home and the pair hit it off from the start.
More on this Story (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=395032&in_page_id=1770)
By CHARLOTTE GILL, Daily Mail
20:00pm 10th July 2006
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/07/kearneyNNS100706_228x306.jpg
When little Emily Kearney was diagnosed with cancer, her parents decided to get her the dog she had always wanted to help her through.
They heard about Casper, an adorable Yorkshire terrier who needed rehoming, and immediately fell in love with him.
When six-year-old Emily came home after five months of intensive chemotherapy for Burkitt's lymphoma, the two became inseparable and Casper gave her the strength to beat the disease.
Now six years on, in an extraordinarily cruel coincidence, Casper has been diagnosed with the same cancer that Emily had.
Just as he did for her when she was ill, Emily, now 12, is making sure the dog she calls her 'brother' has all the love in the world to help him get better.
"Me and Emily just broke down when we heard," her mother Jackie, 42, said.
"When I was told about Emily's lymphoma it was like having your insides ripped out and when I was told about Casper, briefly I got that same feeling.
"Emily was heartbroken, we have to reassure her that he's going to get better. I said: "You've done it, you've survived."
I think it reassures her, the fact that she can compare his with hers and she knows she survived."
Emily was diagnosed with lymphoma in February 2000 after her mum took her to the dentist because one of her adult teeth was loose.
Tests discovered a tumour on her jaw then more in her stomach and kidney and she was sent straight to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary to start her treatment.
But after nearly five months of chemotherapy, Emily returned to the family home in Sunderland and her mother and father Mark, 44, decided to get a dog to help her recover.
"Emily has always loved dogs and always dreamed of having one but we couldn't really get one because we both worked," said Mrs Kearney.
"My mum has always had dogs so she's been around them since she was a baby. When she was in hospital, obviously no dogs could visit so we put up a picture of her nana's dog and our neighbour's dog to make her feel better.
"We decided to get her a dog when she came out, even if it meant I had to cut down on my hours, to help her recover."
Mrs Kearney, a classroom support assistant, and her husband, a painter and decorator, both work for the Tyne and Wear Autistic Society.
They heard about Casper through a kennel in Hartlepool. His owner's personal circumstances had changed and he needed a new home.
He arrived two weeks after Emily came home and the pair hit it off from the start.
More on this Story (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=395032&in_page_id=1770)