Nineteen-Year-Old Patchogue Resident Dies From Cancer

Since childhood, Patchogue native Elizabeth Kelly had a passion for swimming. The focus, determination and positive attitude she demonstrated during competitions would eventually become the way in which she would face her nearly year-long battle with cancer, according to her mother, Patti Kelly.

“It was her swimming mentality that pulled her through during the last year of her life,” Patti said of Elizabeth, who died on Dec. 22, just hours shy of her 20th birthday. “There were times when she was so sick [from the treatments], when she couldn’t see anyone, and she’d say, ‘Mom, I just have to get to the other side.’ She just had that swimming mentality – suck it up and keep going.”

It was during her freshman year of college, while training on the swim team at , that Elizabeth began to experience extreme fatigue, as well as pain in her side.

“It’s a tough regiment and she got very, very tired in the first semester,” recalled Dave Alexander, head coach of the women’s swimming and diving team at SBU. “She and I discussed it and I told her to concentrate on her schoolwork …she didn’t have enough energy to do both. We of course also advised her to see her family doctor…In doing that she came back with this very tragic news.”

Hundreds to pay their respects at the Dec. 27 wake for Elizabeth. A funeral Mass was held on Dec. 28 at parish in Patchogue.

A Facebook page, which had been set up to chronicle Elizabeth’s treatment, has now been turned into a memorial site with nearly 3,000 followers.

In January 2010, Elizabeth was diagnosed with stage four undifferentiated carcinoma, a very rare form of cancer. According to her mother, the cancer had already spread throughout most of her body, and the 19-year-old was given three months to live.

“It makes you realize life is so short, and that it can happen to anyone at any time,” Patti said. “No one’s exempt, and here’s a perfect example. Lizzie was a beautiful, healthy kid, athletic, and never sick. She had everything imaginable going for her.”

In addition to swimming, Elizabeth enjoyed history, and was planning on going into archaeology at SBU before the cancer struck. However, during her illness, Elizabeth decided if she recovered she would pursue a career in medicine.

When asked how Elizabeth was able to battle for nearly a year, Patti credits her daughter’s optimism and selfless attitude, as well as the professional and compassionate care she received at .

“The pediatric oncology department [at SBUMC] is amazing,” Patti said. “They have such a talented group of doctors, nurses, aides – everyone was beyond wonderful to us. Lizzie was surrounded by love, compassion, dignity and care by everyone we encountered.”

A 2009 graduate of in West Islip, Elizabeth was an ‘A’ student with a joyful personality that was contagious, according to her high school social studies teacher, JP Connors.

“Liz was a member of the National Honor Society and was able to balance her academics, athletics and community activities with precision and excellence,” Connors wrote in a letter to Elizabeth’s family shortly after her passing. “She always wore a smile in my class and gave me 100 percent day in and day out.”

In Patchogue, the Kelly family had always been very active in the community, with Patti serving on the village planning board and the Beach Club.

“I’m very involved in the community, and Lizzie always used to be by my side, whether we were doing campaign mailings or trying to get the community to come out to a board meeting,” Patti recalled. “Lizzie was always a community person, loved where she lived, loved her friends.”

Although Elizabeth only spent a brief time at SBU, she impacted the lives of many students on campus, including her swim team, which held a blood drive for her during her illness. Alexander, who has coached the women’s swim team at SBU for over 30 years, said there was something special about Elizabeth.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a recruit that was more enthused about coming to college and Stony Brook as Liz was,” Alexander said. “She never complained, she never said, ‘Why me.’ She just said, ‘OK, we’re going to get through this,’.”

Others who are close to the Kelly family said they also were amazed by Patti’s dedication, as well as the loving relationship the mother and daughter shared.

“There was the most beautiful rapport between the two of them,” noted East Patchogue resident Susan Shiebler. “And Patti never left her side. They really faced death with faith, and yet they had optimism until the very last day.”

Shiebler, whose own daughter was diagnosed with cancer and treated at SBUMC, is one of the founders of the Sunrise Fund, which helps support pediatric oncology endeavors and support programs at SBUMC.

The Kelly family has asked that those wishing to make a donation in Elizabeth’s memory send contributions to the Sunrise Fund. Patti said she plans to continue working with the Sunrise Fund, and SBUMC.

In addition to her mother, Elizabeth is survived by her father Thomas and her sister Catherine, who is a nursing assistant at SBUMC and also helped care for Elizabeth during her illness.

“I’ll never be the same,” Patti said. “A part of me died with her, but I have peace. I have no regrets. We were very close – she was my daughter but she was also my very dear friend … We did everything humanly possible and there was nothing left unsaid. It doesn’t take away the pain of losing her, but I do believe God has other plans for her, and I believe she’s still here with me.”

For more information on the Sunrise Fund, visit www.sunrisefund.org.