“You Just Couldn’t Hold Her Down”

Emily Louick was 11 years old in the winter of 1999 when she started feeling pain in her right leg. The athletic sixth-grader had sprained an ankle a few weeks earlier, and her parents, Karen and David, thought the leg pain was related to that. But the pain kept getting worse and eventually spread to her lower back. Emily’s pediatrician suggested that she see an orthopedist, which brought them to Dr. Daniel Green at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

After a round of inconclusive tests, Dr. Green ordered an MRI— which revealed an unusual tumor wrapped around the lower part of Emily’s spinal cord. He urged Karen to take Emily to a neurosurgeon immediately. “She’s going to need to have it removed,” he said. Read Emily’s story