Elementary school raising funds for 4th grader with aggressive brain cancer

IDAHO FALLS — In February, Emma Hill and her parents learned she had an aggressive, cancerous brain tumor.

It’s officially called a diffuse midline glioma, but the 10-year-old girl from Idaho Falls doesn’t call it that. She’s nicknamed it Ursula.

“It grows in and amongst other tissues like the tentacles of an octopus,” Doug Hill, Emma’s father, explained to EastIdahoNews.com. “We had just recently watched ‘The Little Mermaid’ for the first time with her, so we called it Ursula.”

Now the teachers and students at Fairview Elementary School, where Emma attends, are hosting a fundraiser to help cover her medical expenses.

Emma’s symptoms started with her hearing strange sounds in her ears and constant headaches. After seeing a doctor, she tested positive for COVID-19, so the family thought that was the cause. But as time went on, her symptoms worsened. She was bedridden and couldn’t keep food or water down.

They took her to the doctor again, and this time she was admitted to the hospital. Then Emma started having seizures. Doctors did a CT scan and found “Ursula.”

Emma was flown to a medical center in Salt Lake City, where doctors performed some procedures to alleviate the pressure on her brain.

“If it hadn’t been caught and done, she probably would have died,” Doug said. “So that’s how we found out that there was a tumor. And it wasn’t until another week or two — roughly — after she left the hospital that the doctors found out she did have cancer.”

Now Emma is being treated with oral chemotherapy and radiation in Salt Lake City. Doug said the doctors told them the life expectancy for cases like Emma’s is 12 to 18 months with treatment.

Doug said there has been one reported case of a patient being cured of a cancer like “Ursula,” and a few other cases where the patient lived close to a decade after diagnosis, so the family is trying to hold onto hope.

Doug said Emma loves animals and hopes to be a zoologist one day. She competes on a swim team, loves rock climbing, building LEGOs and playing the piano. Whatever she’s doing, she just loves to challenge herself.

“(Emma) is like the sweetest thing, she has this thick curly hair, and she’s just sweet and kind and shy,” said Janna Long, a duty aide at Emma’s school and member of the parent-teacher organization.

Every year, Fairview Elementary’s PTO puts on a fun run for the school. Kids run laps and get a rubber band each time they complete a lap, and family members make donations.

In the past, the fun run has been used to raise money for a new playground. But once the PTO heard of Emma’s plight, they knew what they wanted the funds to go to her care.

Because of the unique situation, they’ve left donations open for an extended period. Donations will be accepted online until Sunday, May 24.

“(Emma) is old enough and she’s smart enough to know that things aren’t normal for her,” Doug said.

“Emma just wants to be a normal kid,” he continued. “That’s what she wants more than anything else.”