Teen Flutist Gets New Kidney From Mom and School Bandmates Surprise Her With a Home Concert

NORTHBROOK, IL—When Emily Erickson opened her door Wednesday morning, she was confused to see four of her friends clad in their Northbrook Junior High School Wind Ensemble uniforms.

Her confusion turned to surprise, however, when the eighth-grade flutist stepped outside to see around 40 more fellow members of the school ensemble—also decked out in uniforms, instruments in hand—ready to perform a mini-concert to welcome her back home after a recent three-week hospital stay for a kidney transplant.

"It's not every day do you have your band come to your house and perform for you after your transplant," Emily, 14, told Patch.

"I thought it was very nice of them and pretty awesome. It was just a huge surprise," she added.

The surprise event was organized by band director Greg Scapillato as a way of "honoring that Emily is a part of our 'band family' " after a recent transplant surgery sidelined her from the ensemble's spring concert. The band—including Emily, who has been playing the flute for five years—played three selections that they had rehearsed before Emily's surgery in late April.

PHOTO: Fellow Northbrook Junior High School Wind Ensemble band members Angie Duff, Matt Erickson, Emma Sullivan, Jennifer Grenier (not pictured) greeted Emily Erickson at her door Wednesday. (Terry Ryan | Northbrook School District 28)

Emily suffers from a lifelong medical condition that affects her kidneys. It's a condition that put her in the hospital at only 3 months old and has led to multiple surgeries over the years, said her dad, David. This fall, Emily's doctors at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago discovered her kidneys were failing faster than they had anticipated, and she needed a transplant.

Thankfully, a new kidney was available in-house, so to speak. Emily's mom, Judy, was a match, and the transplant was done April 25.

While the transplant surgery was successful for mother and daughter, complications arose after doctors found two tumors on Emily's parathyroid glands. That resulted in an additional five-hour procedure to remove them.

"It was a long, difficult hospital stay," David Erickson said, adding that the second surgery was also successful.

Emily's medical difficulties led to another unfortunate consequence: It meant she had to miss the wind ensemble's May 12 spring concert. That performance didn't simply close out the school year, it also was to be the final concert of Emily's junior high career—she'll be a freshman at Glenbrook North High School in the fall—and something the young flutist was looking forward to participating in.

"I was really sad that I was missing my last concert," said Emily, who was released from the hospital Monday, May 16.

"Music has been a big part of her life," David Erickson added. "It's been her main extracurricular [activity], and she's developed a lot of her friendships around the band."

PHOTO: The Northbrook Junior High School Wind Ensemble performs a surprise welcome back concert Wednesday in front of Emily Erickson’s home. (Terry Ryan | Northbrook School District 28)

Having known Emily since she was a beginner flutist in the fourth grade, band director Scapillato also was aware of the importance of that final concert. Although he couldn't reschedule the school's show, that didn't stop him from brainstorming alternatives.

"For a while, I had been thinking that, if Emily missed our final performances of the year, that the band could extend a special gesture to help alleviate this," he told Patch on Tuesday before the surprise show. "It wasn’t until last week when news of Emily’s impending return home was shared that the idea started to form."

Once Scapillato had the idea for the surprise welcome back concert, it was a matter of putting all the pieces into place in a very short amount of time.

"Talking with and securing support from administration, teachers, parents, and students within a day or two was daunting," he said. "That said, the feedback from everyone involved has been overwhelmingly supportive, with numerous offers to assist in making it a success."

Although the surprise performance was done to show support for Emily, she wasn't the only person emotionally affected by it. Watching his daughter play with her band in front of their home, David Erickson said he was happy to see Emily doing something she enjoyed and doing it filled with an energy that at times before the kidney transplant would be depleted.

"As a parent you're always carrying the concerns and burdens of your kids," he said. "Seeing the old Emily come back, just to see that smile back, is probably more meaningful to us as parents than even to her."

He also said he won't soon forget an exchange he photographed between Emily and her band director, especially after the demanding past few weeks his family has had.

"That moment was particularly meaningful moment," he said. "It goes well beyond what a school will normally do. It shows how much the teachers care."

PHOTO: Band director Greg Scapillato presents Emily Erickson with her band medal for five years of playing in the band as she prepared to graduate to high school. (Terry Ryan | Northbrook School District 28)

If you ask Scapillato, though, that caring comes easy given the qualities Emily has exhibited as a student, musician and person.

"Knowing Emily has taught me the meaning of true bravery, the kind that is self-effacing and subtle," he said. "In our lessons, she conquered challenges with her ever-present smile and witty humor. In the days leading up to her surgery, her concern centered on her mother … rather than on herself. Emily is fearless, yet embodies this without fanfare or fireworks … she simply does her thing."

Now with a new kidney from her mom, Emily's next "thing" will be her first year of high school. In fact, she says she's already looking forward to meeting new people and is excited about some of her new classes.

And of course, she already has her sights set on playing flute in the school's symphonic band.

MAIN PHOTO: Emily Erickson plays flute during a surprise welcome back concert for her that was held Wednesday in front of her Northbrook home.