One Wisconsin teen has a typical summer planned for a 14-year-old girl. There will be fireworks with grandparents, trips to the movies with mom and a dance with all of her closest friends.

But this will be Jerika Bolen's final summer. She has chosen to die.

Jerika was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, an incurable genetic disease, when she was only eight months old.

She has had more than 30 operations and spends 12 hours a day hooked up to a ventilator. Nurses are at her home for the majority of the day.

Jerika Bolen, 14, suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, an incurable genetic disease that causes muscles to waste away. After years of chronic pain, Jerika has decided to end her life

Jerika, pictured with her mother Jen, said she knew after her most recent operation that the physical pain was too much to bear, and that she wanted to be taken off her ventilator at the end of August

The only physical strength the teen has left is in her hands, enough to control her power wheelchair and a computer mouse.

The teen often spends her time playing The Sims, a life simulation video game that allows a user to create people and manage their mood, families and experiences

She said it allows her to imagine a more normal life.

But it was after her most recent operation that Jerika knew the pain - which she describes as a seven out of 10 on a good day - had become too much to bear.

'I was ready then. I was ready a long time ago,' Jerika told The Post-Crescent.

The teen had her spine fused, but her pain only got worse.

'After that surgery...I kind of sat down and thought, "Am I doing this for me or for my family?'"

'I kind of realized I was doing it for my family.'

Jen Bolen had long promised her daughter that she would honor her wishes to end the chronic pain that she must live with every day. But that hasn't made Jerika's choice any easier to swallow.

'If she's at peace with it, I have to find a way to make peace with it,' she said.

'She has endured more in her 14 years of life than most adults will ever have to. She's old enough to decide. It's her body and it's her pain.'

Jerika, who was diagnosed when she was eight months old, has had more than 30 operations and spends 12 hours a day on the ventilator. She now only has enough physical strength to control her power wheelchair

Jen Bolen had long promised her daughter that she would honor her wishes to end the chronic pain that she must live with every day. But that hasn't made Jerika's choice any easier to swallow

When doctors first gave Jen the news about her baby's diagnosis, the prognosis was bleak.

The disease, which affects the nerves that control voluntary muscle movement, often results in early death.

But the single mother, who works as a nurse, refused to give up.

'I refused to listen to the doctor tell me that I was going to lose the best thing that ever happened to me,' she wrote on a GoFundMe page for Jerika.

WHAT IS SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY TYPE 2? Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2 is an inherited genetic disease that affects motor neurons, the nerves that control muscle movement. SMA Type 2 symptoms typically appear between seven and eighteen months. Symptoms include muscle weakness, scoliosis, deformities of the hands, feet and chest. In most cases weakness and disability increases with age as the muscles waste away. Severity and prognosis of the disease depends on the age it was diagnosed. Many who suffer from SMA die prematurely, but others - especially those diagnosed after 18 months - live well into adulthood. Source: Muscular Dystrophy Association Advertisement

Jen immediately began doing research, and found families raising children with the disease who were 'living and happy'.

She was put in contact with specialist Dr Kari Stampfli, the director of the pediatric palliative care program at UW Health in Madison, and together they worked to give Jerika the fullest possible life.

The treatments extended Jerika's life and Jen said she was a 'happy girl' despite the fact that she 'never crawled, walked or rode a bike'.

But the pain has only increased as Jerika, who was once able to life her arms over her head, has gotten older.

She suffers from a persistent ache, as well as sharp pains that come suddenly. The painkillers she takes when it becomes too great have damaged her body.

'There is no doubt they've turned over every stone and tried every treatment to make things better for her,' Stampfli told the Post-Crescent.

'But we really haven't been able to help her pain.'

Stampfli said treatment for spinal muscular atrophy is always about comfort from the very beginning, and the option to stop is always there if 'it isn't offering the quality of life that was hoped'.

Jen and her family have tried to give Jerika as normal a life as possible as she battles through the pain

Jerika received treatments for years that extended her life. Jen said she was a 'happy girl' despite the fact that she 'never crawled, walked or rode a bike'

'We know we've literally done everything we can do,' said Jen. 'People don't realize what it takes to keep her alive.'

As she comes to terms with the fact that she is losing her baby girl, Jen has become focused on giving Jerika the final summer of her dreams.

Jerika has requested a prom, now called 'J's Last Dance', that will be held at a nearby banquet hall on July 22.

The entire community has been invited for a night of hors d'oeuvres, black and lime decorations, cake and lots and lots of dancing.

Jerika has already picked out a dress in shades of green and blue for the occasion.

The purple-haired teen said the prom planning has made her 'super happy'.

'I don't have to think about anything bad at the moment,' she added.

Hospice care plans have been put in place and Jerika will go off her ventilator in late August, at summer's end.

It's impossible to know just how many days the teen will be able to survive without it, but her mother hopes the pain doesn't last for long.

Jerika said she felt both 'extremely happy and sad' when she made her fateful decision.

'There were a lot of tears, but then I realized I'm going to be in a better place,' she said.

'And I'm not going to be in this terrible pain.'

Just like she has through all her life, Jerika is still trying to remain as happy as possible through the pain.

'I still wonder why God picked me to have this disease and I know I can never know the reason,' she said.

'Maybe because I'm strong, I guess.'