Boise, ID (CBS 2) — Imagine your surprise, a 12 foot dolphin swims up to you, squeals loudly and kisses you right on the cheek.
For some folks, that might not sound like fun, but for 12-year-old animal lover Marissa Daigle, this was a wish come true, and the start to a perfect day.
"It was apart of my wish and it was really cool, and Tracy was much bigger than I expected. she was about 12 feet long and that's how big dolphins are apparently," Marissa says.
She tells CBS 2 News that Tracy the dolphin, surpassed any of her expectations
"They are really friendly, have you ever felt a wet tire?" Marissa asks. "They feel like that so they aren't slimy but kind of smooth and wet, it was really cool and she had a spotted tummy."
Marissa's wish came true.
Travelling over 2 thousand miles to the Bahamas with her family.
"I've never seen the ocean before and been out of the country and it was amazing," Marissa says.
Wishes in Flight in partnership with Make A Wish Idaho made all of this possible.
"Make A Wish is just awesome, and I had heard of them before, but until I had cancer I never thought I would actually experience what they did.
2 months after finishing radiation the Daigles, boarded a plane headed for the Bahamas.
"We were able to go up into the cockpit with the pilots and that was a lot of fun," Marissa says.
Marissa's parents tell me they spent the trip with their phones completely turned off, focusing on their family,
But Marissa tells me her favorite part was exploring with animals.
"They had this free aquarium called the dig and they had this large lagoon outside of the dig that connects to the ocean and we had our own snorkels so we got to do that," says Marissa. "And we actually found 2 wild conchs, they are like wild snails with a large claw."
The bright and spunky pre-teen tells me that this time last year she was focused on fighting a rare form of cancer that commonly occurs in the arms or legs.
"I had monophasic synovial sarcoma right here on my arm," Marissa says. "I had to do 6 weeks of radiation at the Hunstman Hospital for Cancer right by the University of Utah."
And while Marissa is not in remission yet, her mother tells me that she has no cancer in her body.
"We pray for boring scans, they don't anticipate it coming back, but sometimes it does," Andrea Daigle says.
But her family tells me that this trip, was unforgettable.
"I can tell you all of your emotional and other resources are tapped, and life changes like that," says Marissa's father. "It's incredibly humbling to have someone give you something of that magnitude."
They tell me this gift from Wishes in Flight not only brought their family closer, but also gave Marissa the healing and strength she needed to continue her fight.
You can help Make-A-Wish during on Wishes in Flight Telethon.
All day Wednesday, from 5:00 am to 10:30 pm CBS 2 News will be taking airline mile donations.
With your help, we can make wishes come true for Idaho children who are battling deadly diseases.
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