STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Charlee Citera has known she wants to be a veterinarian since she was 4, so up-close-and-personal visits with a sloth, a snake and a box turtle at the Staten Island Zoo were the perfect way for the 9-year-old Annadale resident to put leukemia behind her.

The soon-to-be fourth-grader at PS 36, Annadale, underwent five rounds of chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia at the Brian Halpin Pediatric Cancer Center at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze. She has been joyfully in remission since May 18.

And though she admitted that an Orca whale is her favorite animal, Charlee enthusiastically enjoyed her visits with a host of other favorites at the West Brighton zoo during a VIP tour Thursday for herself, her parents, Jaime and Thomas, and her sister

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