David and Ellen Dittman were met with the worst news a parent can get when their daughter, Leigh, was born over 15 years ago. Doctors told them Leigh would most likely not make it through the end of the day. After recently celebrating her 15th birthday though, Leigh is as spunky and smiley as ever, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Leigh was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone disease. The condition leaves her constantly at risk of broken bones and fractures that could require orthopedic surgery from even the slightest of traumas. In fact. she’s had 29 broken bones in total and every one of them was treated at Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa, Fl. Fortunately, she has been able to avoid knee surgery.

All the time she’s spent at Shriners has made her come to think of the place as a second home of sorts, which is why she’s essentially dedicated her annual birthday celebration to raising money for the pediatric orthopedics hospital and orthopedic surgeons that work there.

It started when she was three and after a few years when Leigh got older she decided to make ti a goal to reach $1 million. This past September Leigh’s birthday party at the Indian Cultural Center in Tampa and the $140,000 she raised at hit helped her finally eclipse that goal.

The Tampa Board of Governors of Shriners Hospital were so impressed by Leigh’s service and commitment they decided to honor her with a gold plaque on the hospital’s philanthropic wall.

?Leigh?s smile and inspiration to achieve this goal is overwhelming and furthers the true goal of giving back to society and other children at SHC Tampa,? said board chairman Tom Edwards.

Leigh must also have an affinity for working with children as she’s interested in pursing a career in pediatric orthopedics, as opposed to general orthopedics, someday down the road. When asked how she felt about reaching her goal she was almost speechless.

?All I can say is that this is really surreal,? Leigh said. More like this blog.