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TRIBUTE: Not expected to make it to last Christmas, a bubbly Wayne girl who won countless hearts of those who learned of her inoperable brain tumor passed this morning, a day after Easter.
Lily LaRue Anderson was 6.
With no prior signs, Lily was diagnosed last May with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
Lily (family photos)
The tumor sat in the middle of her brain stem — which holds the “wiring” for motor control and sensation — and couldn’t be removed.
It’s a particularly cruel disease: The median overall survival term is 9 months.
Lily lasted 11.
In that time, she and her family made a deep impression on many.
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A funeral Mass is set for 10:30 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of the Valley RC Church, Wayne, following 9:30 a.m. services the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. Visiting hours: 3-8 p.m. Thursday.
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Sports stars, celebrities and people of all stripes rallied to help Lily and her family (You can, too. Go to: GoFundMe For Lily).
The Shriners Circus brought them in as special guests, thanks to some very caring peole who’d leaned of her illness barely 48 hours earlier. READ MORE ….
At the circus
Lily’s mom, Barbara Anderson, kept a blog diary, of sorts. You can read the March entry, and others, here: #TEAMLILYLARUE DIPG
At 5, Lily had won a poetry contest. One of twins, she loved taking photos, making videos, doing impressions, telling jokes.
She loves animals — “chihuahuas, unicorns, owls, monkeys, and even worms,” her parents wrote on a Facebook page: Hope for Lily LaRue Anderson.
“Lily is always ready to show you a new trick, tell you a joke, and sing you a song. You are guaranteed a good laugh and big smile.
“She loves to entertain all ages and she is bright star to her entire family and friends. She is loved by so many, especially her aunts, uncles, many cousins, and grandparents.”
(For previous CLIFFVIEW PILOT stories about Lily, CLICK HERE….)
From January (family photos)
Lily at Disney
At the circus
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