Monday was a special day for Claire Smith. She had a surprise sixth birthday party at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. Photo by Linda Gustafson

Claire and her Cheetahs
Once upon a time, there was a brave girl who loved big cats...

Reprinted courtesy of the Fort Worth Star Telegram
By CHRIS VAUGHN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
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One day in April 2005, when Claire was 4 years old, the doctors told her she had a tumor named for a man, Max Wilms.

It was very scary because Claire had to go through a lot of very painful treatments for six months.

When she was sick and living in a hospital, she made a wish. She wished, more than anything else, to pet a baby cheetah. She had always loved cats.

The people at A Wish With Wings heard what she wanted. They had seen sick little boys and girls ask to go to Disney World or meet Kelly Clarkson or even to get 100 Barbie dolls. But they had never heard of this wish.

Claire didn't even put down a second or third choice.

They first called the San Diego Zoo, but that zoo couldn't do it. So they called two people at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center outside a small Texas town because everyone knew they had cheetahs.

Usually, the people at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center couldn't help either.

Cheetahs are big cats, and they might bite children like Claire.

But the people who work with the cheetahs, Mary Jo Stearns and Kelley Snodgrass, had two baby cheetahs whom they were having to raise by hand, just like kittens.

They told Claire she could come and pet the cheetahs. It was Claire's lucky day.

After little Claire petted the cheetahs, she fell in love. Their names were Moose and Bruce, and they were more beautiful than she had ever imagined.

" When I met Moose and Bruce, I loved them so much that I loved every cheetah in the world," Claire said.

She started wearing cheetah-print skirts and cheetah-print socks. She looked up every cheetah Web site in the world, and she asked her mother and father to decorate her room in cheetah spots.

When the next cheetah litter came along at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, she got to name one.

What did she name the little female? Claire, of course.

Over time, Claire felt better and the tumor went away. She even got to finish her kindergarten year with her friends.

She still liked to go to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and visit Ms. Mary Jo and Mr. Kelley and her cheetah friends, whom she had grown to love very much.

" I can't have a good time without Moose and Bruce," she said.

But one day in June 2006, when Claire had been feeling really bad, the doctors told her that the tumor was back. This time, the doctors said it was on her spine. She would have to go through more painful treatments in a hospital in Houston to get rid of it.

She was very brave and didn't cry when they took her blood or gave her shots, and she never complained to her mother and father when she didn't get to start first grade with her friends.

When Claire was about to turn 6 years old, her mother asked her what she wanted for her birthday.

Claire said she wanted to give money to take care of Moose and Bruce. She told her mother that they made her feel good inside. She said she didn't even mind all the painful medicine because it would make her stronger and she would grow up and be an animal doctor.

But her mother and father didn't have a lot of money for that. They had to spend money on doctor bills and hotels in Houston.

" But Mama, look at them -- they're gorgeous," Claire told her mother. "Tell Mamie and Papi to give me money, and I have money in my piggy bank. I will give it to Mr. Kelley and Ms. Mary Jo."

On Monday, a few days before Claire's birthday, her mother and father, grandparents and everyone at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center threw a surprise party for her.

She even got to go to Moose and Bruce's pen to see them. They were much bigger now, and she couldn't pet them anymore. But when they saw her, Moose and Bruce got up out of the shade and ran to the fence to lick her hands.

Mr. Kelley could not believe his eyes.

" They don't get out of the shade at this time of day for anything," Mr. Kelley said.

Claire got a lot of birthday presents. She got some more cheetah-print skirts, and some cheetah books, and $360 to give to Mr. Kelley to feed Moose and Bruce.

She also got a present from her mother and father. It was a board game that they could play together.

It was Life.