蜜桃影视

This article is one in a series at 蜜桃影视 that profiles the heroes, victories, success stories, and random acts of kindness to be found at schools all across America. Read more of our recent inspiring profiles at The74million.org/series/inspiring.

Temperatures in Quincy, Massachusetts, never got above 20 degrees the day after New Year鈥檚. But that didn鈥檛 stop a huge crowd of students, teachers, and other from turning out to greet 8-year-old Bridget Kelley on her first day back to school in more than a year.

The Merrymount Elementary School third-grader hadn鈥檛 been in class since September 2016, when leukemia landed her in the hospital. For 15 months, she battled the cancer in the hospital and at home, undergoing chemotherapy and receiving a stem-cell transplant from her 2-year-old sister, .

This is the best story of the year and it will be hard to top it! -> Quincy’s Merrymount Elementary School welcomes 8 year old back to school after 15 months of cancer treatment via

鈥� AndreaWBZ (@AndreaWBZ)

All that time, her dad, Dan, told the station, Bridget couldn鈥檛 wait to go back to school. And when she finally did, the entire community was as excited as she was 鈥� cheering, chanting her name, holding signs of encouragement, and exchanging welcome-back high fives.

Like the fighter she is, Bridget raised her fists in the air as a huge smile lit up her face.

鈥淲e knew Bridget鈥檚 first day back to school would be exciting, but we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our amazing Merrymount community,鈥� Bridget鈥檚 dad wrote on Facebook. 鈥淲hen we saw all of the people I thought Bridget might get overwhelmed, but she said, 鈥楾his is awesome!鈥� 鈥�

All through her difficult ordeal, Bridget kept her spirits up with a Facebook page 鈥� Bridget鈥檚 Joke Challenge 鈥� to raise awareness of leukemia and childhood cancer, and to collect funds for pediatric cancer research and other charities.

For Bridget, laughter was definitely the best medicine.

鈥淲hat made this story so special wasn鈥檛 only Bridget beating cancer and returning to school, but also the way our wonderful Merrymount/Quincy community rallied around the occasion,鈥� Dan wrote. 鈥淭hank you once again Merrymount!鈥�

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