Meet Emma Grace

Just after Emma’s third birthday, she developed a fever that lasted for a few days. Since Emma had hardly ever been sick in her life, her parents, Kim and Cal, didn’t think there was any reason to be too concerned. But when Emma turned pale and began developing purple bruises, they knew something was wrong.

Emma’s parents took her to the pediatrician, who discovered that the little girl’s platelet levels were dangerously low. If Emma so much as bumped her head, her blood might not clot and she could be seriously injured. The pediatrician contacted St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and just a few hours after the trip to the pediatrician, the family was at St. Jude.

At St. Jude, Emma began intensive chemotherapy to get her cancer into remission. She has a lot of treatment left, but Kim says that Emma loves coming to St. Jude, and loves her caregivers there. Emma’s parents won’t ever forget their first night at
St. Jude, and how afraid they were.

Today, though, they take great comfort in the level of care their daughter is getting. Kim says, “We went from thinking this was the last place we wanted to be, to not wanting to be anywhere else.”

Emma likes tacos, making friends, and her favorite T-shirt, which bears the phrase “bald kids rock.”

Emma, age 4,
acute lymphoblastic leukemia

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