I’ve been tracking with this blog for a long while and today there is an article in the Toronto Star about the family. Lindsey Yeskoo, quoted in the article, is mother to Emily, after whom Emily’s House is named.
Lindsey Yeskoo is one of those parents. Her daughter Emily has a rare neurodegenerative disease (metachromatic leukodystrophy) for which there is no cure. At the age of 10, she was given a maximum of three years to live. But Emily’s story didn’t unfold as expected. For one thing, she is still alive at 19. For another, she has become the inspiration for Toronto’s first pediatric hospice.
Moved by her fierce will to live and her desire to make life better for other kids with life-limiting conditions, people who knew her or had heard about her came together to raise $5.5 million (on top of the province’s $2 million) to build “Emily’s House.” It will offer terminally ill children a bridge between the hospital and home. It will offer parents who care for these fragile youngsters a chance to take a break for an afternoon or a day or a weekend. It will give kids an opportunity to laugh and learn and play no matter what their prognosis.
It’s a construction site right now, part of the redevelopment of the historic Don Jail in Riverdale. But in December the doors of the long-derelict Governor’s House — once the stately residence of the “head gaoler” — will reopen as Emily’s House, with a modern three-storey addition to meet current medical standards.
Yeskoo hopes her daughter will be there. So does Emily. But she can’t plan; she can only wish.
Lindsey and Emily Yeskoo are a tremendous inspiration to me through their blog. Lindsey seems to have a grace that regular folks (namely me) don’t have.
by 
Leave a Reply