8-Year-Old Girl's Battle With Cystic Fibrosis Spotlighted on NBC

Local 8-year-old Doris Diaz struggles to breathe. 

The Newark girl suffers from cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease that clogs the lungs with thick mucus and causes infections.

Her battle with the disease was recently featured in a brief but heart-tugging segment on NBC Bay Area.

“I don’t really feel good,” Doris told NBC Bay Area reporters.

In the clip, she describes having to lug an oxygen tank to her second grade classroom. 

“When I looked around, I felt like everybody’s different than me,” she said.

Despite her situation, she remains upbeat and playful. She's even earned the nicknamed “Lipstick Girl” because she’s put on pink lipstick everyday since she was 3 — one of the distractions from her worsening condition, NBC Bay Area reports.

Doris, whose 5-year-old brother has also been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, is currently at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto where she is awaiting a lung transplant.

But doctors say donors for someone Doris’ age and size are harder to come by.

Watch the NBC Bay Area report here.