EAST BRANCH — Parents Jennifer Appley and Mike Sanderson announced the loss of their daughter, four-year-old Elayna Sanderson, after her long battle with neuroblastoma on Friday, February 7th.

Elayna was diagnosed at two years old and a fundraiser was held on May 6, 2023, by the East Branch Fire Department, which saw over 300 people in attendance.

As the child underwent chemo and radiation treatment, she was noted by   her Uncle Jeremiah Appley to respond positively to both. However, the cancer ended up in Elayna's spine and an operation began to remove it. However this proved unsuccessful as the operation left the child bedridden and paralyzed from the waist down for the past year.

Elayna was in Memorial Sloan Kettering [MSK] Cancer Center in Manhattan where she passed.

“She was upbeat and always made us laugh despite her situation,” Jeremiah recounted. According to her uncle, she was a little girl with a bigger personality