WOODROW, Colo. — At just 13-years-old, Chelbi Holt already knows we don't get to choose our battles; the hardest ones often choose us.
"Like my mom, I thought I was out of the ball field," Chelbi Holt said.
"She's my hero," said her mom, Donna Holt. "I couldn't do what she does," added her dad, David Holt.
When she was just four, doctors found a mass in her chest. Tests would later reveal she had a soft tissue bone cancer. After several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, finally, the cancer was gone.
"She started out every three months for scans and check-ups, and then it went about 6-months and then it went a year," her dad said.
For eight years, those check-ups brought good news, until last November, when doctors found the cancer was back.
"The first time it was just a central mass. This time it was in her lungs, they spotted something down in her hips and she had a mass on her cheek. It had spread," said David Holt.
Her prognosis this time, just 25-percent. Chelbi said it's the support of her family and one sister in particular, that gives her the strength to not just fight, but do it with good spirits.
"She's mostly been there when I've been feeling down," Chelbi said.
"She picked you back up," asked Denver7 reporter, Molly Hendrickson.
"Yeah," Chelbi said with her sister by her side.
For the Holts, the medical expenses have added up, which is why the Colorado Eagles will be raising money for the family during their March 4th game at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. Players will be wearing Irish-themed jerseys which will be auctioned off during the game.
"Our players are going to play their best hockey for her and we wanna make this a special night for her," said Eagles Coach, Aaron Schneekloth.
"It's amazing, I mean even communities that we're not physically apart of have stepped up and helped us," said Donna Holt.
No, we don't always get to choose our battles, but we do get to choose the strength with which we fight them.