When 7-year-old Jake McConahay is feeling at his worst, the young cancer patient turns to the one thing that gives him unconditional comfort: his Pillow Pet.
Shortly after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer called Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (Stage IV) that most often attacks children, Jake’s aunt gave him a dinosaur pet he named Rexy to make him feel a little better while undergoing treatment.
One day, while in Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Jake’s mom, Tosha asked him what he thought other kids like him would like to make them feel better.
“I think they should have Pillow Pets,” her firstborn told her. “Doctors don’t always tell them good news and they don’t always want to play, and sometimes they just want to snuggle.”
Tosha took that to heart — and to the community. At first, she bought a few with her own money. Then, she asked Jake’s school to help out and she had seven pillows in the first two weeks back in November — a long way off from her son’s goal of 1,000 of the stuffed-animal novelty pillows.
“I thought there’s no way we’re going to get to a thousand,” she said recently during the family of five’s stay in Dunedin.
But then the donations started pouring in from his school, the family’s church and from strangers.
“In January it really hit the ceiling,” Tosha said.
When Jake had nearly 650 Pillow Pets last month, CJ Products, the maker of Pillow Pets, matched it so he could quickly reach his goal. The donations keep rolling in, allowing Jake to bring smiles to other sick children and their siblings (Tosha says many siblings of sick children feel left out and she wants them to know they’re special, too).