Emery's personality is just like a typical 2-year-old. Sweet, silly, stubborn and independent, but also mature for her age. She inspires a lot of people with the way she handles everything that is thrown at her with a smile on her face! She loves animals, riding horses, painting, dancing and spending time with her “memas” and “papas” (grandmothers and grandfathers). Her favorite places are the park, zoo and anywhere outside.

Emery was a healthy child until a month after her 2nd birthday. She started not eating as well, sleeping, crying more and not acting like herself. The first time her family took her to the hospital was when she stopped turning her neck to the right. Her family found out she had an infection in her neck and after five days of treatment in the hospital, they were sent home. The doctors didn't diagnose Emery with cancer until she kept coming back. She would get better for a few days, but all her symptoms would return. Then, one day, she stopped walking.

Her parents took her in for an MRI of her hips to see if the infection spread, but instead doctors found a mass in her abdomen off Emery’s right adrenal gland. More scans revealed additional tumors in her spine and skull that metastasized to most of her bones and bone marrow. The doctors diagnosed her with neuroblastoma.

Treatment started with six rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a primary tumor resection on the adrenal gland. She’s currently on her first round of high dose chemo/stem cell transplant and is scheduled for one more round followed by six months of immunotherapy. After a final treatment in Philadelphia, Emery passed in November of 2017 with her family and friends. 

Emery is her mother’s hero because she is just so tough. Her mom says she would not handle all of this as well as Emery does. Emery’s smile lights up the room and that is why she is her mom’s superhero!

Her mother wants other families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis to know it will be very tough, but to stay strong and never give up! They will never give up on Emery. There are a lot of amazing people in this world that want to help you and support you any way that they can.

Although Emery sadly passed away, her family carries on Emery's belief in Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. They hope more funding for research means better treatments that don't harm children’s bodies in the process of trying to cure them!

Hero Quote: “Emery do it!” – Emery

Information provided by Jenna Smith, Emery’s mother

Updated November 2017