A Hilliard-Davidson Wildcat put up quite a fight, but could not cage her asthma. Now her family and friends have picked up the fight.
A house, in a quiet cul-de-sac, is trimmed with purple ribbons. They're tacked to porch pillars and encircle a tree. Inside this house, lives a family trying to bring meaning to the death of a daughter, whose life was bright with promise.
"Marisa was an amazing young person," said her father, Chad Smock. "A very friendly, open-hearted person, and just always loved everyone that she encountered."
He said that she could light up a room, and "just make everybody feel better being around her."
Marisa Smock was the mascot,a wildcat, at Hilliard Davidson sports games for all four years of her time in high school. Chad said she loved to energize the crowd.
"We'd have parents tell us that they would come to the football games and watch the mascot more than they would the football at times," he said.
Marisa graduated last year, and died last month, after a struggling most of her life with asthma. She was diagnosed in fourth grade. At first, doctors thought it was induced by exercise. But despite treatment, her mother, Jill Smock, said as Marisa aged, the illness got worse.
"We ended up in the E.R. several times. We ended up in the hospital numerous times. I think during high school the longest period of time we went without a hospitalization was nine months," she said.
Marisa was on steroids for a while. Doctors kept trying different medicines.
"As it got more severe they put her on an injection she would get twice a month. This girl went through an awful lot," Jill recounted.
Marisa fought like the wildcat she was, but lost her battle last month at age 19, a victim of one final asthma attack.
With a quiver in her voice, Jill said, "When something so tragic happens in your life, you're kind of looking for a purpose."
They found it in teamwork. A friend of Marisa's older sister Lexi suggested that they form a team to run in the annual Lung Force Walk. It brings awareness and raises money for lung disease research. In just weeks, two hundred people signed up. The money poured in, $5,000 at last count. The team name is Marissa's Mascots.
Chad, Jill, and Lexi sorted through the team's purple shirts. They say "Marissa's Mascots" on the front, and on the back, "Asthma can take your breath away." All team members will wear them, including Marissa's twin brother, Nick.
The walk comes tomorrow, June 6, one month to the day that Marisa died. In this country, nine people each day die of asthma.
"One of the things that Marisa put on her list of the things she wanted to do with her life, it was cure asthma. And so to us, I think this is part of how she might help," Jill said.
The Lung Force Walk steps off at Easton Town Center at 9 in the morning.
For more information, visit the Lung Force website: http://lungforce.org/walk