Like many 12-year-old girls, McKenzie Carey loves to dance. And though McKenzie has a rare genetic disease that keeps her in a wheelchair, she has a devoted dance partner in her father, who's waltzed her through many local pageants.

McKenzie has mitochondrial disease, a debilitating condition that deprives the body of energy and damages cells in the heart, liver, skeletal muscles, respiratory systems and brain.

'Dancing with daddy makes her feel like she’s on top of the world,' her father, Mike Carey, told Today.com.

'Pageants give her the same opportunity as other children and show people that she can accomplish anything with a little bit of help,' her mother, Tammy Carey, added. 'I just want the judges to look at her, not her wheelchair.'

Ms Carey began entering McKenzie in pageants when she was five but it wasn't until 2010 that her father began joining her onstage.

'My wife was sitting in the audience and was so stressed about McKenzie, so I decided to do something a little crazy,' Mr Carey told Today.com.

'I took McKenzie up on stage and did a wheelie with her wheelchair. Then I spun her around, picked her up and started doing a freestyle dance. The crowd went wild and gave us a standing ovation!'

McKenzie has competed in more than 100 pageants, and won about 20. The family is currently preparing for a national pageant in Nebraska.

'If I get one person [inspired], it made the whole song and whole thing worthwhile,' Mr Carey told ABCNews.com. 'It’s like an unspoken message. This dance is alike an unspoken testimony and shows bond and love between a father and daughter.'

The Careys have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for McKenzie's medical treatments, and have already seen $86,000 donated to the cause.

'As a mother of a special needs child, there is nothing I won't do to help improve my daughter's quality of life,' Ms Carey wrote on the fundraising site.

'She is such an inspiration to everyone she meets.'