February 10, 2009 – June 15, 2017
Diagnosed: September 19, 2016
– Funny – Selfless – Talkative – Brave – Curious –
Dad, Adam, remembers: “After Abigail was diagnosed the entire community rallied around us and our local High School made her the ‘Guest of Honor’ for a football game. All of her friends, family and fellow Girl Scouts came out to support her and show her love. Prior to the game the Varsity Football team all gave her a red rose and said thank you for being brave. It was cold, she was uncomfortable and still recovering from her biopsy surgery but all she cared about was being able to share all of the roses with the friends and family that came out to see her. That was Abby, she was selfless and cared about others more than any other child I have ever known. She was funny, intelligent and most of all, the bravest kid I have ever met.”
Dad (Adam), Mom (Rachel), and sister, Emma, want others to know Abby’s story because “Abby never had a chance. She was given a 6-9 month window and we were told that nothing can be done. Because only 4% of funding is dedicated towards Pediatric Cancer research and she deserved more than that. Because every DIPG child and parent deserve more from our Healthcare system than just being told to ‘Make Memories’ or try and raise tens of thousands of dollars for experimental treatments in other countries. Because she never harmed a fly in her life and deserved all the best things that life has to offer, but was denied that due to the cruelest cancer on earth. A mostly because she was a great kid and deserves to have her story shared with the world.”
Abigail was born on an oddly warm 50 degree day on February 10th, 2009. She is the first born and apple of her father’s eye. She grew up a chatty and curious child who found anything and everything to be interesting and worth learning about. She is a smart, sweet and funny individual. She wears her heart on her sleeve and commits herself fully to everything that she does. She is so many things to so many people; she’s a girl scout, a burgeoning artist, a pint sized humanitarian, a self-taught swimmer, a comedian, a musician (thanks to her cherry red Fender Stratocaster) a voracious reader and lover of books, a daughter, a granddaughter, a cousin and a sister. She loves everything and everyone she meets, she is a genuinely kind and trusting person who wants to be a musician one day and a painter the next. She is the type of kid that you hope you will be lucky enough to raise when you first find out you are going to become a parent.
We noticed a slight loss of balance over a month or two that we attributed to a growth spurt or just general clumsiness. After it seemed to be getting worse instead of better we decided to have her see her pediatrician who said we should get a “precautionary” MRI. This MRI showed a brain tumor and in the span of about four hours we were headed to the city and our whole lives had changed. Five days after that (9/19/16) we were given the worst news a parent will ever hear, DIPG, 0% survival rate, 6-12 months left.
Abigail went through radiation treatments in order to hopefully extend her time on this earth for as long as possible. Because neither her mother or myself were ready to think about her not being a part of it anymore. It’s a cruelness that cannot be properly explained that something so horrible can take away someone so wonderful. But Abigail is a fighter and we knew she had many more days on this earth to sing, dance, play, create and touch the hearts of those who knew her.
Abigail Rose Greene passed away on June 15, 2017, at 12:01am. She no longer suffers from the cancer that stole so much from her and she has moved on to whatever adventure await us after this life is over. She was loved and loved everyone.
