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Girl diagnosed with brain tumor looks to Penguins for inspiration

COLORADO — A 12-year-old girl afflicted with a brain tumor considers herself the lucky charm of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Danjela Belo was experiencing intense headache last summer, so bad, that her parents took her to the hospital. Scans found a 7 centimeter mass on her brain that had burst.

"When she had that surgery, they told us that night that she was not expected to survive that night,” said Jennifer Belo, Danjela’s mother.

Danjela is a fighter and her positivity has given her to the strength to walk out of the hospital and begin aggressive chemotherapy.

"Once I noticed that, like, the numbing cream, and that it's just pressure when the needle gets put in, I'm like, this is a piece of cake,” Danjela said.

Each time she looked to break down a barrier, her family’s favorite NHL team would do the same.

"She was in the hospital when the Penguins went to the Stanley Cup finals. So we always kind of joked about that. And then, they won the Stanley Cup the week she started her treatment," said Marc Belo, Danjela’s father.

When Danjela finished her final chemo treatment, a charity called “Hinotes Heroes” got her family four tickets on the glass, and Danjela made sure her hero, Sidney Crosby, knew she was there. She held a sign that said, “I’m a brain cancer champion, here to see my Stanley Cup champions.”

The poster caught the attention of the camera crew and ended up on the Jumbotron at the Pepsi Center in Denver. After the game, members of the Belo family found themselves getting high-fives and autographs from the Penguins and Colorado Avalanche.

"I did get to meet Sidney Crosby and (Marc-Andre) Fleury too.” Danjela said.

Belo’s most recent MRI showed no evidence of a tumor.

She’s now in remission and, yes, the Penguins won the game the night she was there.