SEATTLE -- Two years ago we brought you the story of an amazing swimmer named Marin Morrison.

A lot has changed in two years, but some things never change. Like the grace and courage of Seattle's own Morrison.

As we watch the Olympic games, we hear stories about the struggles and obstacles that athletes have had to overcome. But it's hard to believe anybody in the long history of the Olympics has ever had to fight harder to get to the games than Marin.

And even now, just days before she's supposed to leave for Beijing, she's still fighting.

Beijing. It calls out to her like a siren, like a dream, like a reason to be alive. This trip to Beijing, what does she think about it?

"I'm so, so excited," she says.

She's dreamed it, she's earned it and God knows she's worked for it.

Rewind to February 2005. The 14-year-old swimming star, young and strong and pretty, was struggling. Something wasn't right. Then she and her family got the devastating news. She had brain cancer.

Doctors said she had just three months to live. So the Morrisons got a second opinion, then a third. When they ran out of opinions, they did the only thing they could do -- they forged ahead.

Through it all, even when she lost use of her right arm and leg, Marin's glorious smile remained untouched.

Two years later, there she was, swimming the butterfly for Eastlake High School with half a working body and the kind of guts that made the hair on the back of your head stand up.

Cancer can't kill the stuff that makes champions, and so it was with Marin, the girl who was one of the finest swimmers in the country at 14, an Olympic contender who dreamed of swimming for the U.S. at the Beijing Olympics was still kicking.

And then this April she went to Minneapolis and clinched a spot on the U.S. Paralympic team. She would be going to Beijing after all.

Marin had shown all of us just how strong a swimmer can be. But the disease is strong, too. And relentless. The cancer doesn't want Marin's dreams realized, doesn't want her to set foot in Beijing. So it continues to wage an unspeakable war against her body and spirit.

"If she can deal with her difficulties every day, which begin the moment she opens her eyes, then there isn't anything any of us can't handle, you know, with that kind of grace," says her father, Matt Morrison.

This spring brought major setbacks -- six weeks in the hospital, another brain surgery. She can no longer walk. She feeds through a tube. There is dizziness, nausea and pain.

And yet, because Beijing beckons, because there's one more important thing she must do every morning her dad wakes her up to face the hurt of yet another day, she keeps pushing.

He brings her here to the pool at 11:30 and lowers her to the water one more time. Then he watches his daughter come to life.

Her strokes are still so elegant, her line still straight most of the time. And her stubbornness and humor are very much alive and well. Even the terrible disease must be shaking its head in wonder. How much can one girl possibly take and still keep coming back for more? Then she's off again, slipping through the water, graceful and quiet.

"I don't know if she knows how many people she's touched. I do. It's very humbling. It's really wonderful and makes you very proud," her father says.

She's taking on the disease and fate and death, but mostly she's taking on life. It's not fair - none of it is - and it's not right. It just is. And she is, and she's an outstanding young lady.

There has been yet another roadblock thrown at Marin. She is back in Children's Hospital yet again. The cancer won't go away. She is scheduled to leave for Beijing in just five days. Her dad says the family is still hoping and fighting and planning on making that trip.

Now money, as you can imagine, is an issue. KOMO News would love to help the Morrisons get to Beijing and handle their incredible medical bills. And you can help, too, by donating online.

It would be great to hand them a big check and say, have the time of your life. How could you not want to help?