Elora Geisler Geier

Dear Friends:

A tragic moment turned into both a heartbreaking and wonderful life with Elora. She was hit by a car in front of her home when she was twenty-two months old. She survived the accident and after four months in a coma the doctors prepared us for a life-altered daughter who might need to spend the rest of her life in a nursing home.

Flash forward eight years and Elora is a happy, “can do” ten-year old with significant academic struggles and a pronounced limp. She struggled to walk independently and needed help on uneven surfaces. In spite of these hardships she loved life and insisted she be included in everything everyone else was doing. Her father and mother in an attempt to get healthy (or in her mother’s case lose some weight) decided to compete in a local 5K. Upon hearing about the race Elora insisted she would start training so she could be in the 5K too. Mom and Dad (even though they thought she couldn’t do it) didn’t have the heart to tell her no, so she started training. And she stayed with it.

Race day was almost upon them when Dad received permission for Elora to start the race an hour before the official time. At 7 am they were off and “running”, by 8:15 the runners were sailing by her followed by the walkers. Elora cheerfully yelled “Good Job” and “Keep going” to everyone as they passed by and she kept walking. The last half-mile family and friends joined her as she struggled towards the finish line. The police car and fire truck slowly followed behind waiting to reopen the roads after the race. She finished in two hours and 15 minutes. She received a standing ovation that day.

She followed that race with a half dozen more before she was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia in August 2005 after a few weeks of sore throats. After 9 months of hospitalization with every imaginable treatment and test, Elora lost her battle with Leukemia on April 29. 2006. She was 14 years old. Her family and friends lost a little bit of their hearts.

Her life might have ended but her love of life and determination to inspire others did not die with her. Her parents continue to run/walk in 5K races and her father now runs marathons. They do so for her, knowing they could go on, not without her, but with her memory in their hearts and their lives. They walked knowing that it was not who finished first or how quickly you finished but what you did with the distance you traveled and the hands you could hold along the way. Elora left a large legacy for such a young girl who won you over with her warmth, her laughter, and her smile.

Her Proud & Loving Parents