Article By Teresa Jamison // Special Coverage // EEW Magazine

(EEW Magazine) Eight-year-old Alexis, affectionately known as Lexi, has a smile that can light up any room. Given the lifelong health battles she’s been fighting, that smile is deceptively bright.

ABC’s Good Morning America co-host, Michael Strahan, surprised the little girl born without a bladder, who just so happens to adore Minnie Mouse, with a trip to Disney World.

“There are only about 20 documented cases of babies surviving with this rare condition,” says Lexi’s doctor, Dr. Jessica Reid-Adam. But doctors at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital in New York were able to construct a new bladder for her when she was six years old, increasing her lifespan.

But two years later, Lexi was in desperate need of a new kidney. Thankfully, her father Luther was a match and was able to provide his own kidney for his daughter—something he sees as a blessing.

“You just pray that you become a match,” he said. “And I was just blessed that I was able to do it myself.

“My dad was telling me that he was going to do this with me,” said Lexi in an interview from her hospital bed. “So, I’ll be okay.”

She was right. She came out of surgery like a champ, and will be at Disney World to see Minnie in no time.

Watch her heartwarming and inspiring story below.