Classmates rally behind Birmingham fourth-grader battling cancer
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – Students and staff at Pierce Elementary had a lesson in perseverance Monday by recognizing several cancer survivors in the community, including a fellow fourth-grader.
In recent months, continued messages of encouragement have showered Ella Butler and her family.
Butler is fighting leukemia.
"Everything can be so scary, but to just have a normal day to walk to school, and just to say 'hi' to your peers is just a way to just keep everything moving. And remember that there are better days ahead and that the community is there just to say 'hi' and to be there for us," said Allie Butler, Ella's mother.
This is Butler's second battle with cancer.
"Big nightmare for all of us. But we are taking it day by day," her mother said.
Butler's teacher, Heidi Keith, characterizes the recurrence as unfair.
"Because I knew she had battled that already in kindergarten," Keith said. "She had gotten through it. And yet, here comes this extra battle that she has to fight just a few years later."
But it hasn't stopped Butler from being a kid who loves pets, especially her cat, and laughing with her friends.
On Monday, those friends showed their support once again.
Butler was the star of Pierce Elementary's Perseverance Walk. More than 500 students recognized the long journey Butler has been on.
"Everyone struggles with something, and you know, if you persevere and you continue to strive, you're always going to achieve your goals, and you're always gonna, you know, come up on top," Jim Lalik, Principal at Pierce Elementary School, said.
Leading up to the special event, students collected coloring books, some Play-Doh and Lego kits to help other children receiving treatment at Beaumont Hospital pass the time.
Although Butler's cancer is in remission, she's still in the middle of a two-year immunotherapy treatment.
"I think that seeing her handle this very serious battle with such grace and such maturity is really helping them to see Ella as a role model for difficult things they might face," Keith told CBS News Detroit.
