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Emily Kimball of Hampton stretches during a ballet class. This brave young girl and her family opened their lives to Herald photojournalist Carrie Niland, who chronicled Emily's battle with cancer. Staff photo by Carrie Niland A loved one lost By Carrie Niland Maureen and Kevin Kimball sit on either side of their young daughter's
hospital bed, each grasping a hand. Their five other children, eyes red and
swollen, stand near the bedside. Friends and family fill every space of the
room. The window in the small room is covered with colorful child-like pictures
of animals and places to visit. No doubt from a child with a happier story.
It's hard to imagine that just two weeks ago, 5-year-old Emily Kimball was in
ballet class, laughing and giggling with the other girls, practicing her dance
moves for an upcoming recital.
Now, she is lying in a bed at Children's Hospital in Boston, fighting the
disease that has consumed much of her life - cancer.
The room is full, but completely silent. Muted sounds from the busy hospital
floor cannot be heard, but rather sensed. The rain outside has slowed to a
drizzle, no longer hitting the window as it had earlier in the day.
Family and friends have gathered here for one reason - to pray. The prayers
up to this point have been filled with hope. Now, they are for Emily's new life.
An eternal life with God.
Words from the Bible echo in the room: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Emily's uncle, Wayne Goodall, a pastor from West Haven, Conn., reads passages
from the Bible - a sermon for Emily's short life. Afterward the rooms is filled
with songs, sung in both English and Russian, that speak of a new day.
In August of 1994, Maureen and Kevin Kimball moved their family to Russia.
Kevin, who from 1983 to 1988 served as a radiation control technician at the
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, worked at the UMass-Amherst branch of an organization
called Campus Crusade for Christ. The couple moved to Russia because they wanted
to share their faith with people from different cultures.
After studying the language for about a year, Kevin began his work at the New
Life Bible College in Moscow, where he became head of the ministry training
department.
Life in Russia was drastically different from their previous life in America.
"You bought eggs, meat, pasta, bread, practically everything at different
stores," Maureen remembers. "You could only buy what you could carry.
They didn't have shopping carts."
With three young kids - Brian, Peter and Mallory - the Kimballs hired a
nanny, Svetlana Seryogina, to help out around the house. Soon, the family
learned another child was on the way. "I wanted another brother,"
remembers Brian, who was 6 at the time.
On June 10, 1996, Emily Grace was born at the "Kremlin" Hospital in
Moscow. "Kremlin is the hospital's nickname because so many diplomats go
there," Maureen explains.
The hefty 9-pound baby brought great joy to her family. "She was a
really easy baby," says Kevin. "She had such strength of
character."
Life in Russia was good for the Kimball family. Their work was fulfilling,
they had many friends, both Russian and American, and they had a healthy family.
A new son, Gary, was born on May 16, 1998.
Their small apartment was on the 16th floor of a cement building, with a
forest out one window and a never-ending row of similar apartment buildings out
another.
Maureen would take the kids to a park about a mile from the apartment. With
little Gary in a stroller and the three oldest on bicycles, "Emily would
run to keep up with the kids on the bikes," says Maureen. "She was
like a gazelle." Peter called his sister "probably the fastest in the
family."
Then, during January of 2000, the family noticed small changes in Emily's
behavior. Her head tilted slightly to the left, she tired easily and lost her
appetite. At first the Kimballs were not too concerned, thinking Emily caught a
virus that had been going around.
But a few weeks later when she started taking naps in the morning, vomiting
and complaining of headaches, they brought her to a local western clinic. The
doctor ran neurological tests, blood samples, even X-raying her head and spine.
All the tests came back negative. Toward the end of April, Emily's health was
deteriorating fast. She couldn't eat and wouldn't get out of bed.
Knowing that the medical care wasn't ideal in Russia, the doctor evacuated
her to a hospital in Helsinki, Finland. It was there they discovered that Emily
had tumor on the stem of her brain.
Doctors operated the very next day, removing the entire 4- to 5-centimeter
tumor. After the surgery, Emily's symptoms disappeared.
But recovering from the surgery was quite difficult. "Emily completely
lost her sense of balance," says Maureen. "She would stand fine with
us holding her, but as soon as we let go she would fall." Gradually, Emily
regained her strength and began walking one step at a time. A few weeks later,
as they were about to leave the hospital to return to Russia, they met a final
time with the surgeon.
"We were waiting for the results," Maureen remembers. "The
doctor was so sure that it was negative, that Kevin already left the building to
get Emily's visa."
But moments after Kevin left, the doctor returned with bad news. The biopsy
revealed that Emily had ependymona, a rare form of cancer that starts in the
brain. She would need radiation and chemotherapy.
The Kimballs went home and packed up their Russian apartment. With 32 boxes
in storage, including toys, bikes, clothes and numerous prized possessions, the
family embarked on the journey back to America for treatment of Emily's illness.
Several months after their return, the family was blessed with another child;
Emily's little brother Jonathan was born on July 3, 2000.
Staying with Kevin's mother, Alta, in Hampton, Emily began her radiation
treatments. The family had only planned to stay in America for the length of the
radiation and chemotherapy treatments. But doctors told them that chemotherapy
wasn't an option. "We were relieved that she didn't have to have
chemo," says Maureen.
The radiation treatment involved numerous trips to Boston, where Emily
referred to the radiation machine as the "big telephone" because of
its unique shape.
During the treatments she would have to lie completely still for about 10
minutes. "A friend once asked Emily how she lies so still during the
treatment," recalls Kevin. "She said 'I just think about Jesus.' That
was such a rich blessing to us."
During a follow-up exam after the completion of the treatments, the family
learned that the cancer had spread to her spine.
"With the first tumor we had found the problem and had gotten rid of it,
but the second tumor, I thought this is a nightmare," says Maureen. In
January 2001, the family was told Emily would need back surgery and another
course of radiation treatment.
Trying to educate themselves about cancer, Maureen and Kevin heard about
something called "The Hallelujah Diet," which consists mostly of raw
fruits and vegetables. To help her body fight the disease, Emily would drink
eight cups of freshly squeezed raw carrot juice a day and eat little cooked
food.
The entire family went on the diet with her. "It was a tangible thing
that each one of us could do to help," says Kevin. By summer, Emily's
tumors had stabilized and the family finally had hope that everything was going
to be OK.
But as it had many times before, the cancer returned again in September.
Emily started to attend kindergarten at Hampton's Center School, with
radiation treatments in Boston scheduled for after school. She joined a soccer
team, enrolled in dance classes, and began living a normal life.
"It was so beneficial for her," says her mom. "She loved every
bit of everything."
Cynthia Glynn and Kelly Millerick, neighbors whose children played with the
Kimballs' kids, decided to create a foundation to help Emily.
"I was walking the kids to school with Mo," recalls Cindy.
"She was talking about an alternative treatment center in Mexico they had
heard about, but it was very expensive. I didn't want them to be in this
alone."
With kids selling flag pins and ribbons, and spreading the word throughout
the community, a non-profit fund called "Emily's Cure" raised enough
money for the trip. "It made me so proud to live in Hampton the way the
community got together like that," Cynthia recalls.
Emily left for alternative treatment at "Oasis for of Hope" in
Mexico in January of 2002. The family knew the chance for a real cure was slim,
but "I wanted to give her every opportunity to beat it," says Maureen.
The natural treatments in Mexico added injections of vitamins and minerals to
the diet Emily was already on. But after some initially encouraging progress, by
the end of February the family began seeing symptoms reminiscent of the first
tumor.
They rushed Emily back to Children's Hospital in Boston for an MRI and
learned that the fast-growing cancer had struck again. Emily had three new
tumors that had not been there four months ago. With few options left, the
family decided to spend the remainder of Emily's time together, as a family.
Though Emily suffered with terrible headaches and sickness, the family
enjoyed one last outing together on Wednesday, Feb. 27, spending the morning at
the Boston Children's Museum until Emily started to feel ill.
Soon her bed at Children's Hospital was crowded with machines and, just days
after Maureen and Kevin gently told the children what was to come, Emily's
breathing became more and more labored. The family gathered at her bedside,
friends nearby in an empty room that had been converted into a waiting area by
the nursing staff. She died on the early evening of Sunday, March 3.
"The last week being with Emily was so powerful," says Kevin.
"It happened very quickly, we are thankful for that."
Speaking at Emily memorial service a few days after her death, Kevin said,
"Today we have lots of wonderful emotions and we are near each other. But
what about tomorrow? What about next week when we stumble over her sneakers or
see her empty chair at school? How will I endure the pain that will last my
lifetime? What we need is hope."
The Kimballs have that hope. The family's faith "has brought us strength
to get through this tragedy," says Kevin. "The object of our faith is
Jesus. That gets us through this."
About a week before Emily's death, the family gathered at the home of Bob and
Paula Lovejoy, pastor of the Faith Community Church in Hampton. Sitting in a
circle, Maureen and Kevin spoke candidly with the kids about Emily's condition
and what it all meant.
Maureen knew that Emily had become a bit fearful of leaving her family. A few
months back, she had read her a Laura Ingalls Wilder book and recalled that
Emily became upset when Laura left home to start teaching. Her mom remembers
Emily saying that she never wanted to leave home.
At the Lovejoy home, Maureen says she tried to prepare her daughter as best
she could. "We want you to show you what it's going to be like. Walk into
the next room," she remembers saying.
As Emily walked into the center of the pastor's office, she was unaware that
her parents and five siblings had gathered directly behind her.
"You'll be there first," Maureen told her, "but turn around
and we'll be with you."
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