Make-a-Wish Trip Leaves Family Hoping for Camera

Maura Kane and her parents spent six days at Disney World last month, courtesy of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. But when they returned home, they realized they had lost a digital camera that had captured memories of the trip.

Maura, who's almost 3, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer, when she was 8 months old and also has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She underwent heart surgery days after her birth because her aorta was narrowing, and she has Weaver-Smith syndrome, which accelerates her physical growth.

She undergoes physical and verbal therapy – she lacks verbal skills – four days a week.

"We went down (to Disney World) and truly could just relax and let her be a kid, which is the only job she should have," said her mother, Kathleen Kane. "If there was one show she absolutely has to watch, it's Mickey Mouse."

Kane and her husband took photos of Maura with Mickey and other Disney characters on the family's Sony digital camera.

"I took probably a whole memory card full of pictures," Kane said.

The family flew back to Raleigh-Durham International Airport from Orlando on Dec. 22 on Southwest Airlines, but they noticed their camera was missing. Kane said she thinks she lost the camera, which was in a black Logic bag, on the plane or in the airport.

"It was very devastating to realize i had lost that," she said. "It's definitely memories we won't get back because it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip."

The family has a few snapshots that Disney photographers took, but Kane said she hopes somebody will find the camera and return it – or at least return the memory stick.

Anyone with information about the Kanes’ camera can call the family at 910-339-0176.