'Pure Excitement': LI Charity Gifts PS5 To Girl Battling Cancer, Fulfilling Christmas Wish

STATEN ISLAND, NY — Charlee Citera, an 8-year-old girl battling cancer, wanted nothing more for Christmas than a PlayStation 5.

Charlee's mother, Jaime, did not think she would be able to fulfill her daughter's Christmas wish. But Jordan Belous, founder of Hauppauge-based charity Whip Pediatric Cancer, could. Belous adopted Charlee and her sister for what she calls "Whipmas," where she helps fulfill a childhood cancer patient's Christmas wish.

"Jaime told the girls, 'No organization is going to get a PS5. Don’t get your hopes up. No one’s going to get that,'" Belous told Patch. "[Jaime] told me that was the top of their list. We were able to use our fundraised money to get them the top [item] of their Christmas list. Jaime said she was too stunned to speak. She couldn’t even say any words. She was so excited."

Charlee said she felt like she was "in shock" and really happy upon opening her PlayStation 5.

"It was very nice of her to give me that big gift, and she doesn’t even know me," Charlee said.

Jaime said Charlee's face lit up as soon as she opened a package containing a PlayStation 5 controller.

"Her face was pure excitement," Jaime said. "People who don’t even know us are rallying together and are trying to help us get through this difficult time. Especially during the holidays. It’s overwhelming."

Charlee has been playing "MLB: The Show" and videogames featuring The Grinch and her favorite superhero, Spider-Man.

The Citeras have the PlayStation hooked up in the Staten Island hospital they are staying at while Charlee undergoes chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia.

"She plays literally every night until 1:30 in the morning," Jaime said. "It’s such a big distraction. It’s her best gift, by far."

Charlee is doing "very well" after she was diagnosed with cancer in September, her mother said.

"In the beginning, she was 99 percent supposed to get a bone marrow transplant," Jaime said. "Her body reacted so well to the chemotherapy that she’s in remission right now. She has three more rounds; two more after this one. Hopefully, it will be in the distant past."

Belous said she saw a social media post featuring Charlee on Instagram.

"You could tell she’s spunky through her pictures," she said. "She looks super vibrant and full of life and fun. I was looking for a family to adopt for Whipmas. I thought she would be the perfect candidate. She had to spend Christmas admitted into the hospital, which is not an ideal situation. We figured adopting her could bring smiles to her and her sister and take a little burden off of her parents during the holiday season."

Click here to read a Q&A with Belous from Whip Pediatric Cancer.

Jaime said the gesture from Whip Pediatric Cancer was "very overwhelming and appreciated."

"There’s always somebody who has been in the same boat or tries to put themselves in the other’s shoes," Jaime said. "It’s a whole [cancer] community. Nobody wants to be in this community, but I have to say, I’ve never felt more not alone. Everybody’s always reaching out to me. Randomly, they’ll text me or message me; for somebody going through this, it gets them through the day. I can’t even express my gratitude and appreciation. It’s somebody who doesn’t even know us who wants to put a smile on an 8-year-old’s face."

Belous said the holiday seasons are hard for everyone — but especially for a family going through cancer treatment.

"I think the parents’ wish is more than a material item," Belous said. "I think at the top of their Christmas wishes is to get Charlee better. That’s what they’re doing and that’s what they’re focusing on. To be able to fulfill the girl’s material wish helped them continue to focus on what they need to do to get Charlee healthy; it means a lot that we’re able to provide smiles to these kids and give them things they may have never gotten if they weren’t sick. It’s a very special feeling being able to fill a Santa Claus role for a bunch of these kids."

Whip Pediatric Cancer has two donation options on its website: one for research and another for quality-of-life purposes. All research proceeds go directly to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and will be used exclusively for pediatric cancer research, according to the website. Belous wanted a second option to help children fighting cancer make memories.

"I want to stress the importance of donating not just to research, but donating to quality of life purposes so that we’re able to adopt families for Christmas or buy gifts for someone’s birthday and fulfill big items on their list," Belous said. "I couldn’t do it without the donors without the last nine years. So keep continuing to donate not only to research, but also to help organizations provide these memorable experiences for families. It really keeps them going. It keeps them motivated to keep fighting to have that extra support."

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