Remembering a childhood cancer fighter's dream
On Nov. 27, two nights after 19-year-old Lily Hall died from brain cancer, friends gathered outside the family's Kitsilano home holding candles.
When her parents looked out the window that night, they saw, in the darkest moment of their lives, a light.
“Everybody was standing there, silent, just looking at us, as if to say they were with us. It was such an act of compassion, I just cried,” said Lily's mother, Hollie Hall.
In 2016, Vancouverites raised nearly $25,000 for the Hall family after a Postmedia story about Lily's cancer. The family used the funds to have a stairlift installed in their modest co-op.
“Lily's legacy is awareness of childhood cancer,” said Hollie, “We were always open about it because she was open about it. She was living with this, and she made a decision early on that she was just going to continue on with her life.”
Through gruelling rounds of chemo, surgeries, MRIs and biopsies, Lily remained herself — a curious, lighthearted kid with an optimistic outlook, a kind heart and a matter-of-fact attitude about the cancer that was discovered when she was 13.
“The lack of awareness of childhood cancer used to drive her bonkers,” Hollie said. Lily noticed plenty of pink ribbons for breast cancer, but never many gold ribbons for childhood cancer.
She understood there was a stigma associated with childhood cancer — it frightened people — and she was adamant about changing that.
So when Lily graduated from Kitsilano Secondary in 2019, students and staff wore gold ribbons to the commencement. “That was her doing,” said Hollie, who credits the school for unwavering support.
Throughout the six years of Lily's cancer journey, it was often the kindness of others that eased the family's burden.
As Lily's illness closed the door on the adventures most teens take for granted — first dances, first kisses, coming home late — she developed close relationships with doctors, nurses, oncologists, care aides and other kids with cancer.
“She especially loved Canuck Place (Children's Hospice) and everyone there,” Hollie said, “They were a lifeline for us.”
So were friends, neighbours and strangers, donors and foundations, and kids — who sold cupcakes, or cooked meals so the family could care for Lily and even travel with her.
On one special trip to Puerto Vallarta, she met a feisty chihuahua-terrier cross named Lita.
“She came right over and put her paws up on the wheelchair and looked at Lily,” Hollie said. The dog was up for adoption. Two weeks later, Lita moved in with the family in Vancouver and claimed her favourite spot: Nestled in Lily's lap.
Lita never left Lily's side. “After she passed away, Lita put a gentle paw on Lily's face, she was there right there to the end,” Hollie said.
But it's the way Lily lived her life with cancer that defines her, not her death: There were ordinary pleasures, like watching Family Guy and Ru Paul's Drag Race or the day a school friend took her sailing. There was her first shooter, on the house, at the Fountainhead Pub on her 19th birthday. There was determination, and there was joy.
There was also a commitment to helping others. Lily, who dreamed of becoming a nurse, never hesitated when asked to donate tissue samples for studies, even when she didn't qualify for the trials.
Hollie said she doesn't know yet how she, Lily's dad, Chris, and her sister, Violet, will cope. “We're all just devastated right now.”
What she does know, is this: She wants to find a way to honour Lily's dream of raising awareness for childhood cancer, and helping others through acts of kindness.
“The day after she passed away, we were waking up and a northern flicker with a distinct call it was right outside our window, loud and clear, it was about four or five calls. We had never heard it outside our bedroom window before. It was as if Lily was there, telling us to get up, get up.”