Terminally ill girl gets puppy after Internet scam

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- A terminally ill girl now has a puppy after her mother tried to buy one from an online ad, but was scammed instead.

Arwyn Hamilton-Traer, 5, cannot see and cannot speak.

"We've watched her slip away a piece at a time in front of our eyes," said her mother, Kim Traer. "She was a healthy child until 2, and now she is completely bedridden."

Traer says her daughter now has a new puppy that will hopefully make life a little more comfortable.

"I put her arms around the puppy, and the puppy just stayed in her arms. And all night long they slept together," said Traer.

Arwyn needs a very small dog to feel comfortable. The plan was to buy her one for her birthday. Traer she found an ad for a Yorkshire terrier teacup on PennySaver.com, but says she found herself swindled out of nearly $900 in an Internet scam.

"I don't normally consider myself stupid, but because I was so desperate to make this happen for my daughter, I did something against my better judgement."

However, after ABC7's story about the situation aired last week, the generosity of the community poured in.

There were many offers, including an anonymous donor who stepped forward to buy Arwyn a puppy.

"For somebody to actually gift us with this, I can't even describe it, it's just so overwhelming," said Traer.

So Arwyn, and the whole family, now has a new companion, and Traer says there's a big lesson to be learned in all of this.

"It was very heartwarming to know that there are still good, compassionate people out there. I had lost faith in everybody. It's amazing, our family has had so much heartbreak in the last few years it's incredible," she said.