Cheri, an Ohio woman who has end-stage liver disease, will get her wish to meet the queen of the Cincinnati Zoo, Fiona the hippo.
According to a GoFundMe post made by Sandi Scott of Dayton, Ohio, Cheri — Scott's sister — was originally given three months to live. Posted on July 10, the GoFundMe page says that she now only has one month. The 36-year-old wife and mother of a 14-year-old and 8-year-old loves Fiona so much that her family wanted to surprise her with a private tour to meet the hippo.
"She cried when she found out what we were planning," Scott says in a Facebook message exchange. "It's hard to hide things on Facebook when everyone she knew was posting it. She loves Fiona so much that she has a Fiona tattoo on her leg!"
Having raised $1,530 thus far, Scott posted that her sister is officially going to see Fiona. Though the tickets were bought for Aug. 8, Scott says that "the zoo was gracious enough to get us in earlier on July 29."
"Thank you for your overwhelming generosity," reads a GoFundMe update. "We are profoundly grateful and are still accepting donations for her family/final expenses if you would still like to donate."
With an initial goal of $1,000 for the tour tickets, anything else will go toward helping the family with doctor bills — according to the post, Cheri does not have life insurance — and final expenses. Donations are still open at gofundme.com.
"This is going to be a very special day," Scott says of the upcoming visit with Fiona. "And we are all the looking forward to seeing her so happy."
*We have been asked to withhold Cheri's last name for her privacy
