Young figure skater with heart condition meets hero Ashley Wagner in Pittsburgh

You would never guess that 9-year-old Julia Wisser had a rare heart condition.

She's bubbly, full of energy and determined.

After seeing Disney on Ice at 5 years old, she was determined to learn to skate.

At 8, she was determined to recover from open heart surgery.

And Friday, she was determined to meet her figure skating idol and 2016 world silver-medalist Ashley Wagner before she performed with 14 other Olympians and world champions in “Stars on Ice" in PPG Paints arena on Friday.

"Where's Ashley? When do we get to meet Ashley?"

She asked until the very moment it happened on the edge of the ice. Only then was she speechless.

With mom Amanda tearing up, Julia silently presented Wagner with a heart shaped pillow covered in signatures from her friends.

She wrote, "Julia, you are so tough. Stay sassy, girl."

But it didn’t end there, Wagner returned shortly after with another skater.

“This is my best friend, Adam Rippon!”

A sweet day just got even sweeter. Eventually Julia had met Meryl Davis, Charlie White, and Jason Brown, who all signed her pillow, now priceless.

Julia and her dad Charles, from Pittsburgh, shared another rare quiet moment together watching the skaters warm up.

Casey Cares is responsible for bringing Julia and Amanda to Pittsburgh from home in South Charleston, West Virginia. The nonprofit has a mission to lift the spirits of everyone affected by childhood illness.

Julia's spirits were in need of lifting after her most recent surgery last summer. Her condition is called tetralogy of fallot. There are four malfunctions in her heart.

But since Amanda was accepted into the Casey Cares program, Julia couldn't be happier. She's ice skated in a national competition and with help from the program, visited the Baltimore Science Museum because Julia wants to be a chemist. Or as she calls it, a "scientist who makes potions."

"We work with the family all throughout the treatment," said Amy Rosewater, director of communications for Casey Cares.

Rosewater sat with the family as they watched the many figure skaters who competed in the Olympics on WPXI this past winter, including Maia and Alex Shibutani, Nathan Chen, Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu, Karen Chen Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.

Cox Media Group