Emerson the Brave of Holland succumbs to cancer after six years

HOLLAND TWP. — Emerson Hoogendoorn, known as Emerson the Brave, died Thursday, July 18, after a six-year battle with cancer.

Emerson, 12, was a student at Harbor Lights Middle School. She's been battling cancer since she was 6.

"Today, July 18, 2024, at 3:24 p.m., after a 6+ year battle with two kinds of brain cancer, our beautiful, brave warrior passed away with all of her family by her side," her family wrote on social media. "Our hearts are completely broken but we know that she is healed now and watching down on us."

West Ottawa Schools hosted a fundraiser for Emerson in June, with funds earmarked for the purchase of an Eco-Tad SX Tadpole recumbent bike to help Emerson increase her strength. Additional money raised was slated for a trip to Disney World.

Hoogendoorn was diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma in 2018. She was not expected to live past Christmas of that year. After undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments and joining a clinical trial for a new medication, her tumor began to shrink and stabilize.

However, a second tumor was discovered in May 2023, this one diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Only 10% of children diagnosed with DIPG survive for two years or more, with less than 1% surviving for five years post-diagnosis.

According to posts from her mother, Ami Hoogendoorn, the family learned in early July that Emerson's tumors were growing and "there are not any additional treatment options to stop the cancer."

"The options that would be available have become toxic to her body, and the tumors are breaking through them," Hoogendoorn wrote. "Radiation is also not a safe option. Emerson is now on hospice and our goal is to provide her with as much comfort and love as we can in whatever time we have left with her."

The family hosted annual fundraisers to support the search for a cure, including clinical trials like the one Emerson benefitted from.

"(Emerson) was a fierce warrior and always was thinking of others in the midst of her own journey," reads her obituary. "She and her family have reassurance that her illness battle will empower researchers to find a cure for this cancer. She was loved by many and will be missed by all who knew her."

Memorial contributions can be donated to Chad Tough Defeat DIPG Foundation, P.O. Box 907, Saline, MI 48176, or by going to chadtough.org/donate.

— Cassandra Lybrink is the local editor for The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at clybrink@hollandsentinel.com.