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Child battling rare blood disease wins Christmas puppy

Posted at 7:56 AM, Dec 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-26 08:06:09-05

PETERSBURG, Va. -- A little girl with a rare blood disease got her Christmas wish.

Mariyana Goode, 10, received a gift that not only lifted her spirit, but all the spirits of those who helped her get a new puppy.

"I've always wanted a dog. Especially a yorkie," Mariyana said.

Her dream came true, in part, due to social media.

"She prayed for this puppy, and I'm so thankful and I feel like I'm the one that's blessed to be able to be a vessel," dog breeder Carmen Sharpe-Edwards said.

In February, Mariyana was diagnosed with a rare blood disease called Aplastic Anemia (PNH). The disease causes bone marrow failure.

She spent weeks in the hospital and currently receives blood transfusion treatment twice a week.

Mariyana is waiting on a bone marrow transplant because her disease will lead to leukemia since her blood cells do not reproduce.

"She's very strong to be 10 years old to go through what she has to go through," her mother Brionte Goode said.

In October, Carmen Sharp-Edwards posted on Facebook that she wanted to give away one puppy from a litter of Yorkshire Terriers. She held a contest for children with cancer.

Brionte Goode entered for her daughter and won.

Then, the moment Mariyana had been waiting for came on Christmas afternoon in Petersburg.

"For her to get her most special wish that she was praying for means a lot," mom said.

"She's so pretty and small and I really love dogs!" Mariyana said.

He decided to name her dog Chloe.

"Chloe was perfect. I felt like Chloe was born for Mari," Sharp-Edwards said.