Sara Minni's positive outlook is one of the major reasons it's been more than 18 months since the three-year-old beat the odds by beating a brain tumor.

"I think Sara was put on this earth for a very specific reason," says her mother, Tricia Minni. "I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm excited to find out."

Sara, who lives in Spencerport, wasn't even a year old when her parents received a devastating diagnosis - their baby had cancer.

"Sara was a perfectly content baby when she had a woozy spell and experienced unsteadiness," says David Korones, M.D., an oncologist at Children's Hospital at Strong. "She ended up getting an MRI scan and was found to have a large brain tumor."

Less than 24 hours after it was discovered, the tumor was completely removed during a lengthy surgery. Further testing revealed that the tumor was malignant, so Sara received a year of chemotherapy and radiation and handled it far better than most.

"Normally, such an assault would devastate a child, but Sara thrived," Korones says. "She continued to grow and develop and was the darling of the unit where she stayed at the hospital."

Tricia and Donald Minni are grateful to their daughter's grandparents, godparents, and many family friends who supported their daughter during her treatment.

They say Sara is "making up for lost time."

"She is so full of life and energy," Tricia says. "She has a head of thick beautiful, blond hair. It's so curly. I tell her she is being rewarded for the time she was bald."

Since her treatment ended, Sara has had MRI scans on a quarterly basis to make sure there is no signs of the tumor recurring. Soon, she will need MRI check-ups only twice a year.

"Sara continues to do beautifully," Korones says. "She walks, she talks a mile a minute, and she can even write her name. She's not only a miracle, she's a gem."