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Local teen with cancer who wants to meet Justin Bieber returns to hospital

UNCASVILLE — An Uncasville teen, suffering from an aggressive bone cancer is compiling her bucket list, which includes a big time wish to meet the big nam...

UNCASVILLE -- An Uncasville teen, suffering from an aggressive bone cancer is compiling her bucket list, which includes a big time wish to meet the big name pop star Justin Bieber, has returned to the hospital Monday according to her family .

Marissa Satiro’s story is now gaining a lot of traction over social media.

In the days after the story aired on FOX61, it was retweeted roughly 400 times, was viewed on Facebook more than 36,000 times and was shared more than 1,100 times as of Monday.  Those numbers continue giving the teen and her family hope that her wish to meet the music superstar will come true.

Marissa, a big believer in miracles, has been fighting for her life for over two years.

“I’ve never dealt with cancer in my family so I was in shock.  I knew kids could get it, but just to come out of nowhere to be stage four already in weeks it was just heartbreaking,” Michelle Satiro, Marissa’s mom said about her daughter’s surprising diagnosis.

Marissa was told by doctors at age 13 she has osteosarcoma and that the cancer was stage four.

Her family in awe of her ability to stay strong thought multiple rounds of chemotherapy, a major surgery to remove a tumor from her are, and more surgery to try and get the cancer out of her lungs.

“She’s amazing.  She’s a fighter we’re all so proud of her, because she’s always smiling no matter what we do, the treatments, whatever we go through she has a smile on her face,” Satiro said.

Marissa’s smile was challenged, however, just moments before she was going to attend prom.

“It was a brain tumor and what had happened is it had ruptured in her head while she was trying to get her pictures taken.  So, it was filling up with the blood and the fluid and that’s what created her whole right side to not work,” Michelle explained.

Her family has now turned to the internet to try and keep Marissa’s positive spirits going.  They set up a Go Fund Me page to help her complete her bucket list.

“Going down to Florida again to see her family, swim with the dolphins she never got to swim with the dolphins so that’s one of her things she wants to do,” Michelle said about some of her bucket list items. Topping that list, however, is to meet the Justin Bieber.

Since this story first aired, an additional $600 had been donated to that Go-Fund-Me page.  Some of the donations coming in anonymously, others with messages of hope and well wishes.

Marissa said his music is a big part of what helped her get through some of her toughest moments and treatments.

“When she gets her treatments done or when she gets ports access and things like that we used to play is songs just to keep her mind off of it or when she goes into like the MRI machines,” Marissa’s mom explained.  She added meeting him would be a dream her daughter so deserves.

Marissa’s dream of meeting Bieber came very close to coming true once before.

“She had a concert last year and we were supposed to have a meet and great and he ended up cancelling the meet and great at the last minute so she wasn’t able to actually meet him which was one of her big things,” Satiro said.

“She’s so strong I tell her all the time she is definitely been our hero,” Michelle said, while looking proudly into her daughter’s eyes.

Marissa’s strength is forging on, through what may be just a short amount of time left to get those bucket list items checked off.

“If Marissa didn’t choose any treatment would maybe make it to her 16th Birthday which is August,” Michelle said.

Marissa is planning to try a few more treatments her doctors hope will give her a few months longer with her family.

FOX61 has been in contact with the company who manages Justin Bieber and has put in a request for their help getting Marissa’s wish granted.

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