BOISE - Marissa Daigle faced a frightening cancer diagnosis with courage and a positive attitude. And now, she's helping other young patients just like her.
The 11-year-old was diagnosed in January with a rare cancerous tumor in her arm. It's called a synovial sarcoma.
"We took her the the doctor," Marissa's mom, Andrea Daigle, explained, "The doctor thought she had a break at first, and we took her to an orthopedist and he felt the tumor.
"It was really scary, because we didn't know... if it was malignant or non malignant," Andrea added. "It was malignant, but it didn't spread."
Marissa took it all in stride.
"When I first found out, I was actually more sad that I couldn't go on a field trip the next day," she said.
Andrea says her daughter's go-with-the-flow attitude got her through weeks of radiation treatment in Salt Lake City.
Marissa has lost some feeling in her hand, but good news, she is now in the maintenance phase, and is cancer free.
The family is incredibly grateful to an organization called Boise's Got Faith. They made it possible to get back and forth between Boise and Salt Lake City.
"Boise's Got Faith has been so awesome to us," Marissa said "They paid our travel funds."
So to give back, the family recently hosted a big garage sale, with all the proceeds going to the nonprofit - to help other families like the Daigles.
"I want to help other kids in Boise who have cancer too," Marissa said.
She knows what it's like to be in their shoes, and has some sage advice for anyone facing cancer: "Be brave because you know it's going to be over," she said. "never ever ever give up."
Andrea says giving back is just the right thing to do.
"We just want to give back to the kids who are fighting cancer," she said. "Because we know not everyone has the outcome that Marissa did."
The family raised over $1,200 at the garage sale.
For more information on Boise's Got Faith and what the nonprofit does for families battling childhood cancer, click here.
To follow Marissa's story, visit her Facebook page.