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This summer, she is looking forward to swimming with the Highland Vista Swim Team, hanging out with her family and friends and visiting her grandmother in Virginia.

But before that, the sixth-grader at Esperero Canyon Middle School and her parents, Ben and Kelly, along with their extended family, are doing something extraordinary: They want to raise $100,000 to help cure blood cancers at the 5th Annual Amber Fernandez Benefit Concert from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort & Spa, 7000 N. Resort Drive.

“It is important to do the benefit because I went through the treatments and saw how hard that is. I don’t want it to be like that for other people; I want it to be easier for them and I want us to find a cure,� said Amber, who has been cancer-free from acute myeloid leukemia since she received a bone-marrow transplant from her little brother, Benjamin, four years ago.

“I celebrate two birthdays two days apart: March 20 is my transplant birthday and March 22 is my real birthday,� said Amber, who was diagnosed in July 2011 after a fever and fatigue wrongly diagnosed as pneumonia.

“With AML, there is an easy road to recovery, and a middle road and a not-so-good road, and her diagnosis was the not-so-good-road,â€� said Ben, a native ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥an and financial adviser with the Fernandez Management Team of Greenberg Financial Group.

Amber had a prognosis for survival of less than 10 percent and needed to start treatment immediately. Her treatment protocol was six cycles of chemotherapy followed by a bone-marrow transplant. She would require hospitalization throughout the grueling treatment.

To complicate matters, the family had been in the midst of a move from Phoenix to Colorado, and Amber was visiting her grandmother in Virginia when she was diagnosed and started chemotherapy. Ben and Kelly decided to delay the move and continue treatment at Phoenix Children’s Hospital to remain near family.

There was a bright spot: Benjamin, then 4, was a perfect match as a donor. In fact, the young soccer player, who loves math and remote-control cars, has earned the nickname “Superman� for his life-saving bone marrow.

“The goal at the end of each cycle of chemo is remission, and you want the patient to be in remission when they undergo the transplant, but Amber relapsed. That is how important Benjamin really was ... it is nothing shy of a miracle that she is with us today,� said Ben.

Amber remembers little that transpired during much of her 10-month hospital stay.

“Lots of times I wasn’t feeling good or I was sleeping, so I just kind of blanked out. I was there, but I wasn’t there,� she said.

She does remember visits from Benjamin, who had to wave to her from outside the room because of her compromised immune system.

Ben credits family with providing unwavering support — from caring for Benjamin throughout Amber’s hospitalization to spearheading the initial Amber Fernandez Benefit Concert.

“I could not have done this without them. I really don’t know how people get through it without family,� he said.

Ben’s sister, Natalie Fernandez Lee, has been a driving force behind the fundraiser, which has raised $109,000 for the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society since inception. It has also evolved into an event that inspires hope and honors those who have fought blood cancers.

Honorees this year include Kelsey Taylor Luria, a Catalina Foothills High School senior who lost her battle to complications related to AML a year ago; Mike Hunter, a UA student who lost his battle to leukemia; and Steve DeCook, who beat his diagnosis and biked throughout his treatment.

“We don’t want other families to go through what Amber and our family went through. There are no prevention methods for blood cancers, so the focus is on a cure, and that is why so much money is needed for research. That money will carry over into other types of cancer research, so it is a crucial part of finding treatments and cures for all cancers,â€� said Natalie, a member of the board of directors for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which funneled $300,000 in support and other services into Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ last year.

She said it has been rewarding for family and friends who have championed the cause to watch the network expand .

“Because of the benefit, people have reached out to us and we have been able to get them in touch with people who can support them through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with contacts, services, information and resources. It gives all of us the opportunity to help others ,� Natalie said.

Although Ben said his family was fortunate not to require travel or other financial assistance from the LLS, they were grateful for the informational resources and services offered by the organization and are passionate supporters of its research.

“We have to live each day one at a time. We don’t know what the future holds and Amber is aware of that. ... It is important for us to relive what she went through, but even more important for us to move forward with the goal to end blood cancers. There are too many kids and adults who don’t make it,� said Ben.