Elliot Rose was a kind and gentle soul who courageously battled a highly aggressive and fast-growing form of brain cancer known as DIPG. She had a quiet personality for an 8-year-old but could get a bit rowdy once she felt comfortable around people! She enjoyed laughing and making others laugh with her contagious giggle and jokes. Elliot Rose was such a well-behaved child, always an excellent listener, and amazing at following directions. She was incredibly bright and such a quick learner. She loved her family so much, especially her sister, Peyton, and her new baby brother, Robert, who was born 10 days before she passed.

Before her diagnosis, she was an artist and engineer. She taught her little sister, Peyton, to turn trash into treasures. They would steal toilet paper and paper towel tubes, along with cardboard boxes to build rollercoasters, pets, and towers. Anything that went in the garbage and was made of cardboard was fair game for Elliot Rose to recreate into anything she could imagine.

In September 2020, one month before being diagnosed with DIPG, Elliot Rose failed a hearing test on her left ear during a yearly physical, but her pediatrician thought the machine was dying and brushed it off. Once they returned home from the test, Elliot Rose's parents began noticing that she was talking louder, turning the volume up on the TV, and complaining of headaches while pointing to her left ear.

On October 6th 2020, Elliot Rose’s left eye was fixed to the center and unable to track to the left.  With quick action from a nurse on staff she was immediately taken via ambulance from her peditricians office to the nearest pediatric emergency room, where a CT scan and MRI were performed very late that night. The following day, doctors informed her family that they’d found a tumor. A week later, Elliot Rose was diagnosed with DIPG after a biopsy/resection.

The diagnosis was a nightmare for Elliot Rose and her family. It left them stressed, exhausted, and sad. Her parents tried their best to make the most of each day while caring for a sick child. For Elliot Rose, learning about DIPG was upsetting and disappointing, she did not want to die, and didn't understand why this was happening to her.  However, with her sunny nature, she refused to let DIPG get the best of her or change her outlook on life. She continued to do things she loved to the best of her ability.  

Before DIPG and steroids, Elliot Rose was an avid snacker – the queen of Goldfish, Cheez-Its, Mac n' Cheese, and spaghetti. Oh, my goodness, the plates of spaghetti she could down at dinner. After beginning steroids, she was given the nickname Elliot Ramsey because of her love for eating and tasting new things. She enjoyed telling people what she thought of their kitchen skills, especially when it came to milkshakes!

Elliot Rose valiantly battled for six months before gaining her sparkly purple angel wings. Her whole life, she was applauded for her positive attitude and outlook on life, and she never let DIPG steal that from her. She was the strongest little girl and fought hard up to her last breath on this earth, April 10th, 2021 she took her first breath in Heaven.  She will never be forgotten and will be forever loved by everyone who knew her. She truly was an amazing child in life and will certainly be one of God’s favorite angels.

Funding for childhood brain cancer research means hope for Elliot Rose’s family. Hope that no other kids will have to suffer through the torture of being uncomfortable due to DIPG. Hope that no one else will know what Ellie felt every day when she would wake up trapped in her own body, unable to do what she knew she once was capable of.

"Children deserve so much more than the ineffective treatment options that are currently being offered for DIPG. We need answers as to why this is happening! We need to stop sweeping these hard-to-talk-about and think-about topics under a rug because we are worried about who may feel uncomfortable hearing about what these kids go through. Our children deserve so much more than such a painful, life-altering diagnosis. They deserve a cure!" -  Kayla Nunn

Thank you for choosing to donate to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. 100% of this donation, after credit card processing fees, goes directly towards research to find the homerun cure for cancer starting with pediatric brain cancer research.

If you would like to make a donation by mail please send a check to:  The Cure Starts Now Foundation; 10280 Chester Road; Cincinnati, OH 45215 and put the child's name in the memo.

The family receives notification of all donations made to this tribute fund automatically.