TUCSON, Ariz. (June 4, 2020) – Katie Benton was diagnosed with cancer when she was 2 years old, she turns 6 on Saturday as she continues to battle pediatric cancer and Diamond Children’s Medical Center, along with generous Tucson donors, are planning a birthday surprise.

The birthday surprise is planned to make up for a missed Make-A-Wish vacation. In March 2020, Katie and her family were scheduled to visit Disneyworld Florida as part of her Make-A-Wish dream vacation but upon their arrival, Katie had a fever and was hospitalized, and the vacation didn’t happen.

On Saturday, June 6, Katie will get to live out part of her dream dressing up like Rapunzel, enjoying a salon day with her mother, participating in a photoshoot and having dinner with her family, including her grandparents, thanks to the efforts of Diamond Children’s Medical Center donors.

Several surprises await the family on Saturday including a Razor off-road vehicle ride for Katie’s brothers, Joey and Joshua, ages 9 and 7, and their father, Andrew Benton.

Joshua was the first in the family to have cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer at age 2, just like Katie, and had a tumor in his chest that was crushing his trachea and impeding breathing. Joshua was treated at Diamond Children’s, completely recovering in January 2018. The tumor in Joshua and the cancer he battled is identical to Katie’s cancer diagnosis.

Activities for the day and timeline:

1:30 p.m.: Katie and her mother, Heidi Nemecz Benton, will enjoy a salon day thanks to This and That Beauty, 985 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson. Katie will be dressed as Rapunzel, her favorite Disney character.

1:30 p.m.: The off-road vehicle ride is being donated by the 5-2-0 SXS car and off-road club. The club has been a loyal fundraiser for Diamond Children’s Medical Center each year providing a holiday parade and delivering gifts to the hospitalized children at Diamond Children’s. Recently, club members helped another Diamond Children’s patient when the family’s air conditioner went out and repaired the system for the family who has a son at home under hospice care.      

3:30 p.m.: After the salon day and the off-road vehicle ride, the family will have a family portrait taken. The photoshoot is being donated by Dodson Photography, Nancy Dodson, 5016 E. Baker St., Tucson.

4:30 p.m.: Longhorn Steakhouse, 5725 E. Broadway Blvd., Tucson, is hosting dinner for the family and grandma and grandpa.

The family is available for interviews and media are invited to cover all the activities. To learn more, please call BJ Godard, clinical support specialist, Diamond Children’s Medical Center, 520-979-1581.

About Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and South

Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and Banner – University Medical Center South are part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. These institutions are academic medical centers for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Included on the two campuses are Diamond Children's Medical Center and many specialty clinics. The two academic medical centers are part of Arizona-based Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/UniversityTucson or www.bannerhealth.com/UniversitySouth