VITAS Hospice Medical Director Dr. Lauren Loftis: This Is Why I Am a Doctor, Thank You, Emma June

Emma June Kent proudly earned her Viera High School diploma as a graduate of the Class of 2023

Emma June Kent died on October 8, 2023, at age 17, at home surrounded by her loved ones and her VITAS hospice care team.

It is a rare thing to know a hero. Recently, I’ve had the privilege of spending time in the company of a hero named Emma June Kent. Emma June is a remarkable seventeen-year-old girl. I’ve learned so much from her about life and strength in adversity. You might be surprised by the amount of joy and brilliance radiating from this young lady.

I know I was. You might find yourself re-examining your ‘why’. My experience of knowing and caring for Emma June has changed my life for the better and reinforced why I do this work. My experience as Emma June’s hospice doctor is one of the most amazing things I have ever had the privilege of doing. This is why I am a doctor.

Emma June has an apt surname – Kent – which she shares with a familiar comic book superhero. She, however, is not a character in a DC comic strip. She is a real-life hero. Emma June was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 14 after going in for evaluation of what was thought to be a sports injury to her knee.

While Superman was imbued with his crime-fighting powers and supernatural strength by the nature of his birth, Supergirl was imbued with her cancer-fighting powers and supernatural strength by the nature of the pressure cooker that is a pediatric malignancy, with the grace of her strong faith in God.

The Kent family shares Team Emma June bracelets emblazoned with Psalm 76:26: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Emma June has grown stronger than her disease. She enrolled in hospice services at seventeen, seizing control over her life and embodying her strong faith.

Emma June had walked through the fire of chemotherapy and radiation, only to be asked to endure an above-the-knee amputation of her affected leg. She’d been on this journey amid adolescence, in the middle of a global pandemic, and despite the myriad of treatments, her cancer had progressed and metastasized.

All along, Emma June had doggedly pursued her coursework even from a hospital bed with nausea from chemo. She was courageous and dedicated to her studies.

I met Emma June during the summer before her senior year in high school. Emma June, her mom, and her brothers came to my office to meet me and talk about hospice.

Let me be clear. Most grown adults run the other way when they hear a hospice doctor will be coming to speak with them. Emma June and her family tribe came to me. When Emma June rolls into a room, you know she’s there – even from her wheelchair, her smile and energy fill the space.

She wanted to meet me and my team and know if we could help her take control of the time she had left. She’d been given her hero’s cape, and she was ready to wear it. Cancer could take a hike. This was Emma June’s show now.

She wanted help with her symptoms and to live her life to the fullest. She wanted to have fun with her friends and family and be a teenager, and she was looking forward to high school graduation.

I said, “Right on!” and our team at VITAS Healthcare was drafted onto Team Emma June.

Emma June spent her summer achieving her goals. We figured out a regimen to keep her symptoms at bay, and she went on a cruise vacation and several trips, including going out to Las Vegas to see Adele in concert. When school kicked back into gear this fall, Emma June was right back at it, working on her two remaining credits required for graduation.

A few weeks ago, I recognized that we might not make it until May, and I had an honest conversation with Emma June and her parents. Emma June decided that she did want that high school diploma. Her parents, our team, and her supportive school district decided she deserved that high school diploma and graduation experience.

After some thought, Emma June gave us all the thumbs up, and our community flew into action to pull this off for her.

Within a week, we had an avalanche of support for this event. Emma June’s church offered their sanctuary to host a full-on graduation ceremony. Gary Miracle, who lost all four limbs to sepsis after influenza, agreed to provide the invocation. Her youth pastor agreed to emcee the entire event.

Her high school principal was ready to go in full regalia to bestow a diploma and facilitate the graduation ceremony. The high school orchestra provided a quartet to play pomp and circumstance.

Local cheerleaders came to celebrate, and a local pilot donated his services to provide a celebratory fly-over. There were balloons, caps, gowns, and an auditorium packed with people. It was the best graduation ceremony I have ever witnessed – and I’ve attended many.

The reason it was so spectacular was Emma June. Everyone in that auditorium, and everyone tuning in online, was there to witness the miracle of graduation and to celebrate one graduate.

Everyone who attended Emma June’s graduation celebrated her achievement. When I see Emma June at 17, I see strength, grace, and wisdom far beyond her age. Her medical condition does not define her. She radiates joy for life.

She has turned cancer on its tail and used it to fuel her ability to impact everyone she meets positively. Emma June made the most of her high school experience. I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone so excited about or worthy of their diploma. Seeing her roll across the stage to receive her diploma with her brothers at her side and her family in the front row was staggeringly beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Thank you, Emma June and family, for allowing our team to walk this journey with you.

Emma June Kent died on October 8, 2023, at age 17, at home surrounded by her loved ones and her VITAS hospice care team.

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