Power of Elle

Elle was the kind of girl that you felt lucky to know or to meet. And if you were fortunate enough to be one of her parents, you felt like you won the lottery every day of the week. She was sweet, generous, kind....as well as cantankerous and sassy. Smart, silly and sometimes stunningly insightful, she was an old soul from the day she was born.

All those traits helped when she was diagnosed in March of 2009 with an extremely rare form of cancer known as Pleuropulmonary Blastoma. PPB is diagnosed in fewer than 20 children per year in the United States. It is highly aggressive and the success rate for treatment is, unfortunately, low. Based on the size and location of the tumor, the doctors gave Elle between 2-6 months. Instead, Elle made it 20 months before passing away in October of 2010. She was three months shy of her sixth birthday.

Elle loved flowers, dancing and music (especially the Beatles and Big Time Rush). She loved to eat Fruit Rollups late at night and drink chocolate milk early in the morning. She loved the Red Sox, hated the Yankees and respected the Phillies (that's a direct quote). Her favorite all-time food was steak. Medium-rare steak.

Elle redefined the word "inspiring". She never once asked "Why me?" She never once said "I want to quit." Once she understood what had happened in March of 2009, she simply set her mind to beating the cancer. And for a long, long time, she did. And then she decided it was time to finally rest.

Elle lived more in those 20 months than many people do in their lifetime. She refused to let her illness define her, to let it dictate what she could and could not do. One week before her death she was still dancing in her ballet class. It is that spirit that we are dedicated to keeping alive through this fund.

Elle's parents always believed Elle would change the world. Their fervent hope is that through this fund, she will still do just that.