A South Florida girl is showing what it means to keep pushing forward after a tough battle with cancer.

Nine-year-old Nava Seewald is full of energy.

“She is a firecracker,” her mom, Rivky Seewald, said.

She’s silly, bursting with positivity and swears she’s going to be famous one day.

About a year ago, Nava started getting headaches. Her parents thought it was something simple.

But within hours of a routine doctor’s appointment, their world was flipped upside down.

“They called my wife and said, ‘Go to the hospital now,’” her dad, Yosef Seewald, said.

The next morning, doctors at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital told the family Nava had acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, and would start chemotherapy that day.

While doctors began aggressive treatment to save Nava’s life, the nonprofit Chai Lifeline stepped in to help hold the rest of the family together.

The organization delivered hot meals, sent volunteers to help with whatever the family needed and provided support.

“With all the volunteers that Chai Lifeline has given us, like going whenever we needed to do something, whenever there was an event that we needed to go to, Chai Lifeline brought volunteers to the hospital so that they were with Nava, so we didn’t have to worry about anything,” Rivky Seewald said.

“Every single day she had volunteers,” she said. “Without them, I don’t know, we wouldn’t have gone through it. They were really just so amazing to us.”

And when Nava was well enough, Chai Lifeline gave her something to look forward to: Camp Simcha.

“The funnest place on Earth,” Nava Seewald said.

The sleepaway camp in New York allows children battling cancer to spend nearly two weeks just being kids — and, for a little while, forget what they’ve been through.

“They are free as a bird for patients that are normally restricted,” said Dr. Warren Alperstein, one of Nava’s doctors.

The camp is staffed with pediatric oncologists, including Alperstein, who also treats Nava at home.

Every camper has a one-on-one counselor.

“They made sure that the kids are comfortable with that counselor and they’re one to one taking care of all the time,” Alperstein said.

Children can receive the care they need at camp, including chemotherapy if necessary.

“If you can send a patient who’s in the care of a doctor with that doctor to a camp, you can’t get better, can’t be more secure than that,” Yosef Seewald said.

Nava has been counting down the days until camp.

“She’s counting down the minutes, she really is. Every day she tells me how many days are left. She’s so excited,” Rivky Seewald said.

Nava says she plans to return to Camp Simcha every year.

“And the one year that I can become a counselor, I’m gonna,” she said.

Until then, Nava will keep inspiring everyone she meets.

“If any kid can go through such a thing and come out stronger rather than weaker, it’s Nava,” Rivky Seewald said. “She has taught us that really this is the way to go through life. You push on. And you show that you’re strong and you can get through it.”

Nava is now cancer-free.

She is at Camp Simcha right now, and her mom says she’s loving it.

Chai Lifeline is a nonprofit organization that operates on donations.

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