MORE: Hamilton girl’s fight against cancer, community response featured on CBS Evening News
“This is a real unicorn,” Naomi said.
When the horse moved, Naomi stepped back, then was assured the horse was just excited.
“That’s because she loves me,” she said.
She then rode the horse around the fire station’s bay. The surprise was supposed to happen at the Short’s house, but was moved a few blocks away to the fire station because of the inclement weather. Members of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office also gave Naomi two large stuffed animals.
“I want one of my own so bad,” she said of the horse. “But I couldn’t take care of it because of the chemo.”
MORE: ‘I’m the new mayor’: Girl battling cancer gives laughs, inspiration at Hamilton council meeting
Naomi, diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer, said she always wanted to ride a unicorn, what she called “a bucket list” item. She said unicorns are her favorite because they are “magical, colorful and fart rainbows.”
When asked if she was scared riding a horse, she quickly corrected: “It’s a unicorn.”
Her mother said she was contacted by the sheriff’s office about dressing up a member of its mounted patrol as a unicorn. Now, Naomi wants to go to Disney World, appear on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and have her picture taken in front of the Hollywood sign in California.
She has had 30 rounds of radiation and four surgeries and soon starts chemotherapy. Her mother said the chances of Naomi’s survival are 30 percent.
Earlier this month, she was featured on the CBS Evening News, and she has served as honorary mayor of Hamilton.
As a mother, when Short was told her daughter had cancer, she didn’t know how to react. Now, she said, there are no appropriate words to describe the numb feeling.
“It sucks the soul out of you,” she finally said.
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