On Friday. February 27, 2004, at the age of 15, Emily Ford Davis died at the National Institute of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. For over two years Emily fought Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare childhood bone cancer.
The Ellicott City resident, a sophomore at Centennial High School, had a beautiful spirit, kind and loving heart and was always more concerned for others than herself. In 2002, Emily's art work was featured on the Make-a-Wish Foundation's Holiday card, raising thousands of dollars for the organization to continue fulfilling children's wishes.
During the last year of her life, she was recognized by the community with the first annual Unsung Hero Award and began making plans for using that to brighten the lives of other children who would follow in her path. Emily was the keynote speaker for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Kickoff in Howard County, and as an artist, created a drawing which was used on a necktie for the Miracle Network 2003 collection, raising a significant amount of money for the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. While continuing exhausting treatments to battle her cancer, Emily and her friends created an art camp for community children. Emily was active in the Girl Scouts and a Peer Mediator at Centennial Lane Elementary and Burleigh Manor Middle Schools.
