BY KARISSA MILLER

Troutman Elementary School third-grader Ella has endured more than any child should have to during the past three months.

Soon after 9-year-old Ella was diagnosed with medulloblastoma on January 1, surgeons successfully removed a brain tumor. After the surgery, Ella experienced some weakness in her left side, which made it difficult for her to walk.

Her doctor referred her to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte for occupational therapy, her mom Susan Lyle explained, and Ella is using a wheel chair to get around until her coordination and walking fully return.

“Ella is a sweet child. She has a good sense of humor and is so brave,” her mom said.

The past few months have been a whirlwind for Ella’s family.

“It’s seems like a bad dream. It’s been very challenging to get her to her appointments,” Lyle said. “My mother-in-law has come in from Florida to help us out. That has been a blessing.”

Her grandmother, Patty Town, who has witnessed Ella’s strength and fighting spirit during the treatment, takes Ella to her appointments Monday through Friday at Brenner Children’s Hospital.

Ella is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy in an effort to prevent the cancer cells from returning. Like many who undergo cancer treatment, Ella started to lose her hair.

“I was sad. I cried at first. My mom told me she would find me a wig. She looked up purple wigs and found me this one,” Ella said.

Purple is one her favorite colors, which is not surprising since she is a big fan of unicorns.

TES raises money for Ella’s family

As soon as School Resource Officer Jonathan Lyons, who is assigned to Troutman Elementary, heard about Ella’s cancer diagnosis he wanted to help.

“I treat these children like they are my own. Whenever I saw one of my kids hurting, I knew I needed to do something,” Lyons said, mentioning that he also did this in honor of his grandfather.

Lyons took it upon himself to organize a schoolwide effort with a special spirit week and other festivities to raise money to help Ella’s family.

He also collected donations from community businesses, which wanted to remain anonymous, which helped boost the total raised to $8,500.

Third-grade classrooms raised more than $1,800, which was the most out of all grade levels. As a result, third-graders got the honor of watching Lyons get pied in the face along with a fellow teacher.

“I think the Troutman community, as long as I’ve been here, has always stepped up. When there is difficulty in the school community or community, they have done fundraisers and they look after one another,” said Principal Kimberly Cressman.

“I think it showed our children that there are ways to care about folks. Our students got to see it firsthand through donations or dressing up in spirit days. It rallied our whole school,” she added.

Cressman said that she’s grateful for the community partners who made contributions to Ella’s family.

Ella’s mom was shocked and humbled by the community’s support.

“I had no idea that they were doing this. We are thankful. It’s very heartwarming,” she said.

Pie in the Face Day

Ella’s smile widened when she entered the school gym for a brief visit on March 5. She took center stage as she smashed a pie into the face of SRO Lyons.

Her teacher Kayla Waugh was similarly spattered as part of a fundraising effort at the school.

“That was fun. I want to do it again,” she said.

Ella who is known to be a kind person approached pieing her SRO and teacher in a subtle manner.

“I wanted to do it gentle,” she explained.

Since she started doing treatments, she doesn’t have a lot of energy.

“I don’t feel good sometimes,” she said. “I miss school.”

Waugh said that Ella’s classmates miss her tremendously. She said that some of her classmates even made a unicorn blanket for her during their enhancement time.

“Ella is super caring, thoughtful and would do anything for someone,” Waugh said.

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