Emma’s Second Chance
How CSH helped a little girl walk, play, and thrive after childhood cancer.
At first glance, Emma looks like any 10-year-old girl. She loves playing barbies with her younger sister Penelope, swimming, and even learning Taylor Swift songs on the piano and drums. She plays soccer, basketball, and field hockey, and she just started the fifth grade. To her parents, AJ and Lindsay, even the normal sibling bickering over toys or who left the lights on feel like blessings. Those everyday moments remind them just how far Emma has come.
Emma’s journey began when she was just six and a half months old. Her parents noticed blood in her diaper and assumed it might be a urinary tract infection. After pushing for further testing, an ultrasound revealed something no parent could ever prepare for, a tumor pressing against her bladder. It was cancer.
Her oncologist treatment as if it were Ewing Sarcoma, a rare childhood bone cancer. Emma had a biopsy, bone marrow testing, a port inserted and then began chemotherapy. But the very first drop of chemo caused her heart to stop. For six long minutes, her tiny body had no heartbeat before doctors were able to revive her.
Emma survived, but the ordeal left her with a stroke on the right side of her brain, paralyzing the left side of her body. She had to relearn everything…swallowing, moving, and all the basic skills she had developed as a baby.
After months in the hospital, Emma finally came home to continue chemotherapy and begin rehabilitation. In September of that year, her tumor was surgically removed. By December 30, she had completed her last round of chemo.
Just weeks later, on the very same day her family received the call that she was officially cancer free. Emma began therapy at Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH). For AJ and Lindsay, it felt like the start of a new chapter.
Doctors had once told them that Emma might never walk, depending on the care and resources available to her. With the help of physical and occupational therapy, serial casting, orthotics, and countless appointments, Emma learned to walk again. Slowly, she gained strength and confidence.
“Things that other people take for granted like running in gym class, playing sports, or even just keeping up with friends. These are things that would have never happened without Children’s Specialized,” said Lindsay. “Her therapies, her orthotics, all of it has allowed her to live a pretty normal life.”
For years therapy became Emma’s “after school activity.” While other kids went to girl scouts and basketball practice, Emma came to CSH to get stronger, and it worked! Today, she is thriving, participating in sports, going to sleepaway camp, and fully enjoying her childhood.
Emma’s favorite color is blue, and she loves that CSH is just as bright and colorful as she is. For her family, it’s more than a place of healing, it’s where their daughter’s future was rebuilt.
Now, when Emma and Penelope are laughing, swimming, or even going back and forth over barbies, AJ and Lindsay can smile, grateful for the “normalcy.” Because behind those everyday moments is a story of resilience, hope, and the extraordinary care that gave Emma her life back.
