"Her spirit was lifted:" Nine-year-old Racine girl, fighting cancer, surprised with a new best friend!



RACINE (WITI) -- The fight against cancer can be a long, challenging and emotional journey, but a young girl in Racine has a new friend to help her along the way -- and bringing these two together was a journey all its own.

Trudy Moore describes the moment she learned her young daughter Reyna has cancer.

"It was like walking into a wall -- everything just...bam! One minute we're going for a doctor's appointment, and the next minute they are  talking about we need to start chemo right away," Trudy Moore said.

The nine-year-old girl was soon making regular trips to the doctor for chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Doctors removed a femur -- where a tumor was initially found.

Trudy Moore says her daughter has come far since she was diagnosed, but she figured a travel buddy would help her the rest of the way.

In September in Grand Haven, Michigan, a fragile puppy showed up at an animal rescue center. Trudy Moore's friend worked there.

"Reyna didn't know. None of the kids knew," Trudy Moore said.

The puppy, affectionately known as "Reyna" was destined for Racine, Wisconsin -- and on October 11th, the puppy's four-hour journey began.

When the two first met...

"She just, I can't really explain it. It was like her spirit was lifted," Trudy Moore said.

Reyna Moore and her puppy have been inseparable ever since, and just in time, as Reyna has only been walking again for the last few weeks.

"Thank you is not even enough. How do you thank someone for making your kid so happy?" Trudy Moore said.

Trudy Moore says the new addition to the family has helped her daughter deal with the stress of her cancer and its treatment, but she says there was too much confusion with her daughter and the puppy having the same name, so the puppy is now known as Chula.