Elise’s Story

Elise was a junior at General McLane High School in Edinboro, PA  where she was looking forward to her Senior year. Elise was a  wonderful and loving young woman. Her character was a great  mix of both of her parents as well as her older brothers. She was dedicated, and hard-working like her Dad, loving and  compassionate like her Mom, intelligent and creative like her  brother Luke, and care-free and artistic like her oldest brother  Jake. Elise had such a witty sense of humor as well and she  developed that all by herself! Whether she was at home hanging  out or at her favorite vacation destination, the beach, she loved  to be with her family. She enjoyed baking and cooking and took  great pride in serving others her creations. Elise spent a lot of  time doing creative projects to decorate her room or to give to  her friends and family. She loved to make beach themed art that  hung on the wall and she was always thinking of ways to make  her room feel like she was at the beach. At holidays she would  always make decorative name tags or other art to help welcome  our family and friends. She just loved to create things. She even  had the chance to take a watercolor painting class at school and 

We now have some beautiful paintings of hers that will be  cherished forever. If it wasn’t family she was with, she loved to  hang out with her friends. Whether going to a home football or  basketball game, or a school dance, she loved to spend time with  her friends. The one aspect of Elise’s life that she really showed  passion for, was her faith in Jesus. Elise loved to attend worship  and was especially fond of the music. She attended several  Christian music concerts over the years and they always brought  her great joy. Elise was a special gift from God and we love and  miss her so very much.  

Brain Aneurysm StoriesOn July 27th, 2021 Elise lost her life to complications after  undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm. It was around  Mother’s Day that she started to experience severe migraine  headaches. Weeks after, a CT scan was ordered where a rare  dolichoectatic fusiform aneurysm was discovered. This was  devastating news for Elise, and our family, and we knew that our  faith and prayer was the only thing that was going to help us  through this. Elise had to stay very strong to endure the intense headaches, but we were hopeful that the doctors could come up  with a plan to help her situation. Ultimately her condition started  to worsen and surgery was the only option to try and save her.  The surgeons devised a by-pass strategy to try and work around  the aneurysm, which at that point had actually grown in size.  Elise had to make a very grown up decision for a 17-year-old but  she knew it was the only chance. The surgery was very long and  arduous, but it turned out that the aneurysm was a lot worse  than what they had seen on scans. On the night of July 27th,  Elise passed away and went to be with Jesus in Heaven. We  know that we will see her again someday, but in the meantime  we want to do everything that we can to help others to not  experience this same pain.

 

 

Elise McEldowney Ride for Brain Aneurysm Awareness

$1,147
OF OUR $2,000 GOAL