Updated Jul 27, 2010 - 10:04 am
From Eastside mom to brain cancer research champion
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Riley Elliott, Dellann Elliott, and Hunter Elliott. (KIRO Radio/Chris Sullivan)
KIRO Radio
Dellann Elliott wasn't a fundraiser. She didn't have a cause. All she wanted to do was grow old with her husband Chris and raise their kids Riley and Hunter.
That all changed ten years ago when 39-year-old Chris was diagnosed with brain cancer. A tumor had been growing inside his head, but he had no idea.
Chris fought tumors for two years, but like in most fights with brain cancer, it's the tumors that win. But Dellann made a promise to Chris before he died that she'd fight as hard as he did to live, to find a cure, and fund research.
It's amazing what a widow with no clue how to fulfill that promise has done to stay on the path. "There have been many times when I felt like quitting, that it was too hard," Elliott told KIRO Radio. "There have been many times that people have said I wasn't going to make a difference. I could have stopped, but I didn't want to. I wanted to make a difference."
Her fundraising started small with a golf tournament with a few of Chris' buddies just months after he died. Nine years later the Chris Elliott Fund for Glioblastoma Brain Cancer Research is funding cutting-edge facilities, and it has raised more than $1 million. It even provided seed money for the human genome project. Not bad for a lady who still isn't sure how she's pulling this all off. "What's so important for people to know is that one person can really make a difference," she said. "One person can make a human, mankind, big deal, worldwide difference."
And to see their mother working so hard to keep their dad's memory alive has become a daily inspiration for 17-year-old Riley and 14-year-old Hunter. "Every single day waking up and seeing her accomplishments, I know I look up to her," Riley said. "I want to follow in her footsteps, and I'm really proud of her."
So what does Dellann think Chris is thinking right now? She looks up to the bright, blue sky and laughs. "I think he looks down and is a little bit surprised," she said. "He probably says ' Huh, I asked her to do something about this disease, but I didn't know what she was going to do.' It's pretty cool."
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