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After battling leukemia, braving multiple rounds of chemotherapy, and receiving a life-saving stem cell transplant from an anonymous donor at just 27 years old, Emily thought her medical woes were over.
The Paterson elementary school teacher had left the hospital, returned to the classroom, celebrated a birthday, and was back to planning a future with her long-time boyfriend, Will.
The future was looking bright for Emily, until she contracted an infection known as the JC Virus, wreaking havoc on her brain.
Emily sister, Jackie Griffin launched a GoFundMe campaign last January. While Emily was able to undergo treatment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, "recent test results show that the minor improvements were only temporary," Griffin said.
"Based on medical advice, our focus is now on making Emily as comfortable as possible through in-home care, which will require around the clock care for an unknown amount of time, possibly months."
Emily slipped away surrounded by her loved ones.
Emily's final weeks were spent showering her friends and family with love, her obituary reads, "lighting up whenever her life partner and 'her rock', Will, was nearby, making her family laugh with jokes and eyerolls, planning celebrations for her friends, and bragging about her new nephew to her many visitors," it reads.
Emily graduated Fair Lawn High School and William Paterson University, before beginning her career as a preschool teacher. She was a cherished member of the BJ Wilkerson Memorial Child Development Center and DA Quarles Early Childhood Center.
Services will be held at the Vander Plaat Colonial Home. Click here for funeral details and here to donate to the GoFundMe page for Emily.
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