A mother in Southeast Texas is sharing the final moments she spent with her teenage son before he died from cancer. She says telling his story helps her cope after his funeral, which was held over the weekend.
Last summer, Elijah Estrada began complaining about pain in his legs. He started limping. It didn’t seem like an emergency. After three visits to the doctor, an MRI at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston revealed the truth — a tumor on his spine.
A word no parent is ever prepared to hear: cancer.
Elijah’s mother, Adrienna, describes her 15-year-old son as happy and full of life, always surrounded by music and movement. He loved to sing. He loved to dance.
Within weeks, a high-grade glioma took away his ability to walk and then spread to his brain. Radiation did not stop it. Chemotherapy could not slow it. But the cancer never changed who Elijah was.
“He stayed positive,” his mom said. “He laughed. He never complained. Not even once.”
On December 26, the day after Christmas, Elijah passed away.
In his final moments, he told his mom that he was scared. She held him and told him she was scared too, but that she was there with him and that God would protect him.
This family wants other parents to hear one important message. Elijah’s first symptom was just a limp. They thought it was a sprained ankle. If something doesn’t feel right, get it checked — even if it seems small.
Please keep Elijah’s family in your thoughts. And if you are a parent reading this, trust your instincts.