5-Year-Old Whose Life Was Cut Short By Cancer Remembered In Newtown

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The energy and enthusiasm inside the studios at BC Discoveries Dance & Theater Arts Company was contagious Saturday afternoon.

For five hours, 79 students danced for Elle’s Angels Foundation raising $13,415 to combat DIPG, an incurable brain cancer mostly found in children ages 4-11 years old.

The disease claimed the life of Elle Caruso - a five year old member of their dance company - who passed away in 2021 just 13 short months after she was diagnosed.

A banner featuring a photo of Elle, her pigtails hanging down to her shoulders and a big smile on her face, held a place of prominence, overlooking the dance floor as a reminder of the cause.

Elle Caruso. (submitted photo)

“One day she was dancing with us. The next day she was not,” said BC Discoveries Director Kristina Tuxhorn. “Her parents started the foundation. This is our third dance marathon and our second for Elle’s Angels. Last year we raised $10,493. This year we’re hoping to break that total.”

“This day is super special for us because we get to come together to celebrate Elle,” said dance team member Mary McAlpin, whose squad performed Little Mermaid. “We want to do the most that we can to support kids with DIPG.”

Dance team member Annie Lordi remembered Elle “as a fantastic Twinkle Star. She was always on her best behavior. She always had a smile on her face and she loved to dance. She always had a little bit of mischievousness and it really made her a great student. She was such a strong little girl and we all miss her very much.”

When Elle got sick, members of the dance company traveled to her home in nearby Middletown Township and performed for their young friend and dancer.

(Jeff Werner)

Kristin Brown, who was Elle’s dance teacher, said Elle always paid attention. “She always had her eyes on me, she was excited to come to class and she wanted to learn. She also had a smile that lit up the whole room and she loved her sister so much. She was always so excited to dance with her big sister. She was just a beautiful, talented, kind, sweet girl. She was a pleasure to have in class.”

For the marathon, the members of the company chose a Disney theme since Disney songs were among Elle’s favorites. Many of them dressed in costume for performances of The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Tangled, Inside Out, Frozen, Aladdin and others.

To kickoff the marathon, Elle’s parents - Derek and Kristiane - joined Tuxhorn to present the second annual Elle’s Angels Scholarship to Sammi Leon, a Pennsbury High School junior. The first scholarship was presented to Elle’s big sister, Ava.

The Caruso family (Mason, Derek, Kristiane and Ava) and the BC Discoveries team present this year's Elle's Angels Scholarship to Sammi Leon, a Pennsbury High School junior.

“We are so honored and thankful that you took the time out of your day to raise money for our foundation, but also to come here and do all the things that Elle loved,” Elle’s dad, Derek, told the dancers. “Since Elle’s passing we decided to honor her by raising money so we can help doctors fund really crucial and important research. Right now there is no cure, but one day there will be. We’re trying to raise as much money as we can to help these doctors. Every thing that you raise is going right out the door to help these doctors find a cure so no one else has to go through what Elle went through.”

According to Elle’s mom, Kristiane, the marathon and fundraiser have been comforting and inspiring to the family and have helped keep them going.

(photo by Jeff Werner)

“This means so much to us because one of the things that Elle was really passionate about was dancing and putting on a show for everyone. To be able to still have this incorporated into our lives, to honor her legacy means so much,” she said.

The couple founded Elle’s Angels Foundation after losing their daughter to DIPG, the same disease that claimed the life of Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s daughter. Its mission is to advocate and fund essential research to discover effective treatments for pediatric brain cancer, with an emphasis on DIPG.

DIPG, a tumor that develops on the brain, most commonly strikes children between the ages of 4 and 11 without warning.

“These children are given a nine month life expectancy from diagnosis. They are perfectly healthy children before that,” said Kristiane. “What happens to the children after diagnosis is that they lose the ability to walk, talk and eventually breathe. It’s very hard because you have these active, normal kids and in one split second their lives change.”

(photo by Jeff Werner)

Elle was diagnosed in June 2020 and was given nine months to live. Through clinical trials, her life was extended by four months. She passed away on July 30, 2021.

“During her fight, we received an overwhelming amount of support coming in from all over,” said Derek. “It was amazing to see. So after she passed we said we have to continue this fight.”

Of childhood cancer related deaths in the U.S., brain tumors are the number one cause of death, but receive less than one percent of federal funding for research.

“Everything we raise as a foundation goes right out the door to helping to fund these clinical trials,” said Derek. “They are making so many advancements. It’s been our goal to help find a cure and we believe that one of these days one of these clinical trials will break through. We just hope to be a small part of it.”

For more information about the foundation, visit Elle's Angels Foundation.

And mark your calendar for the first ever Angel Dash for DIPG 5K and 1M Family Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, May 6 at Core Creek Park in Langhorne. The event will begin at 9 a.m. at Pavilion 11 and will take place rain or shine. It will be held both virtually and in-person.