By: Jen Russon
Emma Sorensen, a bright, effervescent eighth-grader and competitive cheerleader, who won the hearts of people in her community and around the world, has died.
Just 12, when symptoms of brain cancer surfaced, the teenager bravely fought for more than a year, pursuing grueling surgeries and treatments for glioblastoma that her family documented on Facebook.
When the Sorensens announced her death, tens of thousands reacted to the @EmmaStrong post on Thursday, January 30.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts I let you all know that at 11:40 am today, our Emma got her wings. She was an angel to us here on earth and now can be an angel to everyone from heaven,” her family wrote.
Following the post, Emma’s GoFundMe page to pay for aggressive cancer treatments and the travel it necessitated garnered more donations and currently sits at over $80,000.
Emma’s mother, Kelley, said, during a poker tournament held in October to benefit the Sorensen family, that the loving support of the Coral Springs and Parkland communities, among others, will never be forgotten.
Emma Sorensen {courtesy family}
Emma’s family and friends continue to remark how her positive attitude never left her, not even near the end when the embattled teen traveled to Shands Hospital and other Florida medical centers for immunotherapy and chemo based treatments.
“May she spread her sparkle everywhere! May her smile continue to light up this earth,” her family wrote on the EmmaStrong page.
Emma attended Coral Springs Middle School. Her parents Kelley and Michael, and her brother Michael, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, live in Westview village.
As a resident of the Coral Springs community, Emma enjoyed local sports and was a competitive, award-winning cheerleader at Cheer USA in Coconut Creek.
Born on July 12, 2006, she began cheerleading as a tyke and had reached the status of a star athlete by the time she retired from the sport following her diagnosis.
Visitation and memorial services for Emma Beatrice Sorensen will be held at the St. Jude’s Catholic Church and Babione Funeral Home in Boca Raton. The family is asking people to wear a “pop of pink”, a color their daughter loved.
Monday, February 3, Visitation
4:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Babione Funeral Home
10060 Calle Comercio Drive
Boca Raton FL
Tuesday, February 4, Funeral Mass
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
St. Jude’s Catholic Church
21689 Toledo Rd
Boca Raton FL
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