Denver Zoo, Fort Collins family working on way to honor sloth-loving boy who died of cancer

Amy Dixon's son Ben "didn't want to be known as the cancer kid."

Ben was 9 when he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a bone cancer. Over the next year, he went through 14 rounds of chemotherapy and 30 radiation treatments, and in March 2020 he was deemed cancer free, Amy said.

In June 2020, Ben's cancer was back. Amy and her husband, Dave's, 11-year-old son Ben died July 8, 2021.

"Ben was the best person I've ever known," Amy said.

Ben loved spicy Cheetos, Lego and funny television shows, Amy said. He loved video games, and playing games is how he stayed connected to his friends while he was going through cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ben also loved sloths.

"He loved that they slowed down and appreciated life, he loved that they always looked like they were smiling," Amy said.

Ben was able to meet a sloth in October 2019 thanks to a program called Wild Wishes. Despite Ben feeling very sick that day, Amy said he had a huge smile on his face the whole visit.

"It was magic to see his smile," she said. "... The pure joy and wonder on his face was everything."

He loved sloths so much, Amy said, that Ben — who helped plan his own celebration of life — wanted everyone to wear sloth T-shirts to his funeral because "nobody can be sad if everyone is wearing sloth T-shirts." The more than 700 people in attendance wore them.

Since Ben's death, Amy said their family has felt incredibly supported by the Northern Colorado community. Neighbors started a movement called #BeLikeBen, which encourages people to spread kindness in the community just as Ben had, she said.

When the community heard about the Denver Zoo's fundraiser to name their new baby Linne’s two-toed sloth, messages to add Ben's name to the list of options flooded in.

"I was floored by all of it," Amy said. "It was incredibly special."

The fundraiser allowed donors who contributed $5 to vote for their favorite of three names: Rain, Wicket or Cappuccino. Wicket was the winner, and the Dixon family got to make the announcement on April 4 in Ben's honor.

The zoo took notice of these messages, reached out to the Dixons and shared Ben's story on its Facebook page, zoo communications director Jake Kubié said. But it didn't want to add Ben's name in after the fundraiser already began because it wanted to respect previous donors' votes.

"Unfortunately the timing didn't work out perfectly to include Ben in our name mix, but it definitely got our attention and we were definitely inspired by his story," Kubié said. "... It was really important for us to recognize that effort from the community and share Ben's story."

Amy admitted Ben likely wouldn't have wanted to be honored in this way, and that he didn't like being in the spotlight. He wanted his memory to be used to help others, not for his own glory, she said.

She said their family is in the early stages of working with the zoo to create a program that could help other sick children, something she thinks "Ben would be very proud of and really excited about."

"That is something that Ben would have loved," Amy said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Denver Zoo, Fort Collins family working on way to honor boy who died of cancer