Ebba Lindell

October 7, 2014 - August 9, 2022

     Ebba Lindell was born in Västerås, Sweden to loving parents Viktor and Isabelle. As their first-born, they were elated and anxious for her arrival. Ebba was everything they hoped she would be and more. She was vibrant, sassy, kind, creative, and brilliant. She was a bundle of energy and spent the summers racing around the playground and splashing at the beach. Her room was littered with fuzzy journals, markers, and art projects. When she wasn’t outside or creating little works of art, she was dancing in the living room with anyone who would join in.

 

     In April of 2022, Ebba began experiencing headaches and dizziness. Seemingly unrelated symptoms quickly arose too until it all came to a head on Easter weekend. She woke up vomiting and became so dizzy it was difficult to elicit a response from her. Her parents rushed her to their local emergency room where she underwent a battery of tests to find the source of her distress. Physicians soon discovered that in addition to the headaches and dizziness, Ebba was now struggling with extreme fatigue, double vision, poor balance, and facial paralysis. An MRI of her brain revealed a large tumor in her brainstem. She was immediately transferred by ambulance to Uppsala Hospital to receive more specialized care.

 

     Upon arriving in Uppsala, they learned exactly what they were up against: diffuse midline glioma (DMG). The physicians informed Isabelle and Viktor that Ebba had the worst type of cancer a child could get. They could offer her radiation and steroids to give her some temporary relief, but that was it. She would not survive her disease. Isabelle recalls how their fear morphed into crushing heartache as they absorbed the prognosis.

 

Our entire world just… crumbled. A couple weeks ago, she was perfect. 

Now, she was dying. She would never grow up.

 

     Ebba had already developed hydrocephalus from the tumor. This condition, which in Greek translates as “water on the brain”, is an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the ventricles (cavities) of the brain. This excess fluid puts pressure on the brain and can cause permanent damage or death if not resolved. A neurosurgeon placed a shunt in Ebba’s brain to continuously drain the excess fluid. Following this, she completed a 6-week course of radiation. Many patients experience a short improvement in symptoms after this, but Ebba wasn’t as fortunate. She deteriorated rapidly, losing the ability to stand, walk, talk, see, and hear in one ear. 

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​     She fought with indescribable strength. For three and a half months, she overcame the persistent physical pain and emotional frustration of what her body could no longer do. Amid an unimaginable ordeal, Ebba remained a loving daughter and big sister. Her younger brother and best friend Edvin soaked in every opportunity to snuggle with her. Isabelle, Viktor, Edvin, and Ebba snuggled as a family of four one final time on August 9, 2022, when she drew her last breath.

 

     Ebba wanted nothing more than another little brother. Following her diagnosis, her family held onto hope that she would survive long enough to see that wish come true. She missed the news by only a few days. Three days before her funeral, Isabelle and Viktor found out they were expecting. It would turn out to be a boy, who they named Elias. Ebba’s final gift to them all.

 

“Om kärlek hade kunnat rädda dig, så hade du levt för alltid.”

(If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.)​