'Amazing Race' Fan With Leukemia Gets Thrill Of A Lifetime

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- To say 8-year-old Molly Vergin is a fan of the CBS reality show "The Amazing Race" might be an understatement.

"I think there's only one season that I haven't seen," Molly said. "I think it's funny because they have to do a lot of weird, different challenges."

She's no stranger to adventure; she's already visited 37 states.

But in January 2013, "The Amazing Race" became her new getaway.

"I watched a lot when I was in the hospital," she said.

Molly was diagnosed with leukemia, which meant a lot of time in the hospital.

"A lot of days not feeling good, not feeling up to doing much of anything," Molly's mother, Stephanie Vergin, said.

And she spent a lot of time watching "The Amazing Race."

"Because I had to stay in my room for part of the time, I was too sick to, like, go out of it, so it was a good thing to do," Molly said.

Her mother says it was an escape, and a fun distraction.

"It brings happy memories of the hospital for us, something that we enjoyed doing there, and there's not a lot of happiness when you're in the hospital," Stephanie said.

But the happiest of memories was just around the corner. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the host of "The Amazing Race" -- Phil Keoghan -- sent a personalized video to Molly inviting her and her family to join them when they filmed the premiere.

Just like that, Molly's amazing dream became an even better reality. Molly and her family flew to Los Angeles in November to meet the cast and crew.

"We just got to see like how they taped it and what they did," Molly said.

Not to mention, they got to get in on the action.

"They had a pool of mud, then you had to climb into this little hill they made out of mud under ropes," Molly said. "It was funny though because we got like completely soaked in mud."

While the mud washed off shortly after, the amazing memories will last a lifetime.

"For her to have that after everything she'd been through and to be there to have this really amazing day was just, it was everything that we hoped for," Stephanie said.

Molly's dad, Mike Vergin, says it was the first time his family had been together -- away from the hospital -- in a long time.

"We've enjoyed traveling and we missed out for a year and a half there. We missed that, just the four us being able to get on an airplane and go somewhere," Mike said.

Molly's last leukemia treatment is scheduled for May, a week before her ninth birthday.