Cook Children's Staff Unite to Save Feline Friend

By Arianna Flores

Just before Christmas time, several employees noticed a young cat sitting next to a garage stairwell at Cook Children's Medical Center-Fort Worth. Employees began feeding the friendly cat, taking care of her, and even visiting the kitty on their off days just to ensure she was OK. The employees named her Peaks in honor of our beloved mascot and her home. 

Magellan Taylor-Brickey, a Family Care Coordinator in Hematology/Oncology and a member of the local animal rescue center Love & Paws Rescue, noticed several employees caring for the feline friend and asked if she could help.

A GroupMe was then created, and signage inviting employees to join the "Peaks Support Group" was posted in the employee garage.  In just a few days 76 employees had joined to work together to take of Peaks.

“In rescue we see so many stray animals here in Fort Worth. It is truly a city crisis," Magellan said. “So, to see an animal that so many people care about and are actively working together to take the cat was amazing,”

Madelyn (Madi) Malone, RN, Inpatient Psychiatry would see Peaks and update the group chat about Peaks whereabouts and began understanding her patterns. Peaks would hide during shift changes because the moving cars scared her. But she would come out during lunch or breaktime to be fed a Chick-Fil-A fry or two. 

The GroupMe became a hub for regular updates: who fed her, when they saw her, and who might be able to catch her. Most of these employees had no relationship to one another other than working for Cook Children’s.   

“We know that the people that we work with are great, but you don't necessarily have a lot of overlap with departments,” Madi said. “So, to start to see people that you would have never met outside of the GroupMe or never gotten to know outside of the GroupMe, all join the GroupMe from so many different types of units and different types of specialties all come together to catch this cat -- I thought it was really cool.”   

Madi was particularly touched when she saw Cook Children's leaders join the GroupMe and actively participate in the rescue efforts.   

“People would get to work early just to see the cat. The cat gave the employees so much joy from getting to see it and love on it,” Madi added.  

Employees put blankets and boxes in the garage for Peaks and bought cat food for her. Slowly but surely Peaks began trusting our employees and would even allow some of them to hold her. 

Christina Mendoza, RN in Pulmonology, wanted to adopt Peaks from the beginning. She would bring her husband and son on weekends to try and catch Peaks. However, to no avail, Peaks was still in the employee garage in early January when a winter freeze was approaching. 

The night before snow fell the GroupMe chat lit up with a 3 a.m. message: Peaks had been caught during the night shift, and they needed to find her a temporary home. Madi's parents offered to care for Peaks until the snow melted, and then Christina and her family would get Peaks and bring her to their home.   

Now Peaks is living happily with Christina as the only pet in the Mendoza household, with the knowledge that more than 75 Cook Children’s employees collaborated to ensure her safety and well-being.  Several employees who had never known each other before the 'Peaks Support Group' now regularly check into the group chat asking for updates and photos of her. 

“I like to assume that a lot of us chose to work at Cook Children's because we like to take care of others. We like caring for others and so, it was a natural instinct.,” Christina said. “There was somebody that needed help and whether they have four legs versus two, this little girl needed our help."