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Girl with cancer finds a dog-friendly apartment

Posted at 6:07 PM, Feb 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-09 18:07:20-05

CINCINNATI -- A 9-year-old girl, her mom and her two dogs finally found the home of their dreams -- it's a studio apartment in Pleasant Ridge.

"Just when we hit rock bottom, God finally sent us a guardian angel," said Jennie Nieves, the mother of 9-year-old Daphne.

Nieves said she packed up what she could fit in a U-Haul.

"We got rid of everything we owned," she said. "When I get up here and he sees my dog, because she's big, he told me he couldn't rent the apartment. And because of him we're stuck being homeless with two dogs and a hotel."

Sabrina was over the apartment's 50-pound weight limit, the landlord told Nieves.

Getting rid of Daphne's dogs – even just Sabrina - isn't an option because Daphne panics and she loves her dogs.

"Right now she doesn't go to school so she doesn't have friends … Those (dogs)  are her only friends right now so getting rid of her dogs would be like getting rid of her friends," Nieves said.

After word of her story spread, Nieves met the man who she called her "guardian angel," who is letting the mother, daughter and dogs stay in an apartment for free.
 
"He even offered to help us find somebody to walk the dogs when I’m at the hospital," she said.
 
The landlord -- who only wanted to be identified as "Matt" -- is also paying for the family's utilities.
 
"I can’t thank him enough. What a wonderful man."
 
On her quickly approaching tenth birthday, Daphne will undergo a bone marrow transplant.

"I'm kind of afraid that if they do it it might not work but I’m not trying to think about that too much because I’m trying to stay as positive as I can," her mom said.