so this is Emily. She’s twelve years old and has been fighting cancer for four years. right now she’s not doing so well - she’s been given two to six months to live, and is on hospice care. One of her last wishes is to meet Taylor Swift - even over facetime or through a phone call. My good friend is close to her, so I’m going to steal her words to tell you Emily’s story.
“This is Emily Beazley. Emily is a 12 year old girl in my neighborhood who goes to school with my brother. Or, rather, she used to go to school.
For the past four years Emily has been fighting for her life battling Stage III Non-Hodgkins Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. When her mom took her to the doctor on that very first day they found a tumor the size of a softball in her left lung, and the doctors told her family that if she had not gone to the doctor that day, she would have died in her sleep that night.
Every single day for the last four years Emily has continued to fight this horrible disease. She underwent months of chemotherapy, and thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel when she went into remission in July 2013. Only a few months later, she relapsed in March 2014. She began chemo and total body radiation, but her little body had become chemo resistant and was no longer responding to the treatment. She needed a bone marrow transplant; there was only a 25% chance that her 8 year old sister Olivia would be a match, and she was! Olivia, as well as Emily’s parents Nadia and Ed, got to witness Emily’s “rebirthday” when over one million of Olivia’s cells were transferred to Emily via a blood transfusion in August 2014. Emily and her mom spent months in the hospital in isolation after the transplant, hoping that it would save Emily’s life. There was still a chance that Emily’s body would reject the transplant. However, her little body pulled through.
The thing that makes this girl so incredibly special is her hope and strength. Of course, hearing what the doctors had to say was devastating, but in typical Emily fashion, she is determined to prove the doctors wrong. She has inspired so many people throughout our community and beyond.
But again, in January 2015, Emily relapsed a second time. Her oncologist has reached out to specialists all over the world and all over the country. There is nothing left for her type of cancer. Recently she was given 2-6 months to live, and yesterday she was placed on hospice care. Science has failed her. But the thing that will never fail is love. Love and family and togetherness and most of all faith. Most people’s role models are celebrities or parents or older siblings, but I, along with hundreds, maybe thousands, of other people have the privilege of calling this courageous young lady my role model. She has taught us all what it means to “fight like a girl”, and has brought together a community not only in prayer, but in hope and love. Never in my life would I think that a young person could teach me so much about myself and about life, but Emily is truly an old soul.
Now, and for the past four years of Emily’s brave journey, hundreds of people who have never even met her are flooding the heavens with prayer for Emily’s miracle. A campaign “Light it Up for Emily” has begun in order to light up people’s houses and businesses with green and purple bulbs for Emily.
Emily is such a talented and beautiful girl, and she has missed out on being a kid. She hasn’t been able to go to school, birthday parties, normal family vacations or even the park across the street to play with friends. Emily loves music and dance, she plays the violin, the piano, and loves to sing. Our wish for her, as a community, is to see her at peace and happy, as any child her age should be able to. In this devastating time, we ask that you assist us in hoping for Emily’s miracle, and anything that can be done to fulfill Emily’s last wishes would be appreciated beyond words. Thank you 💜💚”
Emily is truly a beautiful person, who has gone through so much and been so strong throughout it, and it would mean the world if you could share this story and try to get her noticed by Taylor, whom she adores. Emily has brought light into the lives of so many, and we hope to bring a little more light into hers before she leaves us.
If everyone could keep her in their thoughts, pray for her, send positive vibes, whatever you believe in, it would be so appreciated.
If you’d like to learn more about Emily and the things we’re doing to support her, or donate to her, you can visit this facebook community for her https://www.facebook.com/Lightitupforemily/info?tab=page_info.