Ellie was just 7 years old when she was told that her dad was going to die.
He was diagnosed with ALS, an illness with an average life expectancy of between 2 and 5 years. She did the math in her young head and came to a heartbreaking conclusion: her dad wouldn’t be at her wedding. She didn’t even know who the groom would be yet, and she already knew she would dance alone.
16 years passed. Ellie got engaged to the love of her life, and her dad was still there, holding on against all medical odds. She walked down the aisle holding onto her father’s adapted wheelchair, and then came the moment she herself describes as one of the most meaningful of her life: the father-daughter dance, adapted so he could move in his own way. A moment she dreamed of as a child but never believed she would truly experience.
Today, her family supports ALSCrowd, a foundation that helps other families going through the same battle against ALS.