Feline Fridays: Cats Make a Difference for Seattle Teen Cancer Patient

Seattle's Children's Hospital went the extra mile for 16-year-old Maga Barzallo Sockemtickem, who spent 11 months in the hospital while waiting for a compatible bone marrow donor. Because of her suppressed immune function, she was unable to have the comfort of her beloved cat Merry, so the hospital social media coordinator suggested making a post on their Facebook homepage requesting cat photos to encourage their young charge.

They had an overwhelming response with over 3,000 photos posted along with messages from well wishers from around the world. The photos were incorporated in a cat immersion experience with images projected on a sheet tent over her bed with a cat purring soundtrack.

Maga initially tried to respond to the individual posts, but because of the program's success, the hospital developed a video to thank participants:

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