Autoimmune Warrior

Ellie Pruitt was an 8-year-old girl from Canton, Georgia, who passed away from various autoimmune diseases.

When Ellie was just three years old, she began to complain of pains in her legs and fatigue. Ellie’s parents took her to a Pediatric Rheumatologist who confirmed that she had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition causing painful inflammation in the joints. She took steroids and received injections of methotrexate, a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug designed to reduce the inflammation.

During Ellie’s short lifetime, she participated in medical studies to determine what causes autoimmune disease. Both of her parents, Heather and Chuck Pruitt, have autoimmune conditions themselves; Heather was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was a college senior, and Chuck was diagnosed with lupus at age 15.

In addition to the medical studies, Ellie and her family participated in the Walk to Cure Arthritis. They formed a team of families representing four children with the condition, called the Woodstock Warriors Against Juvenile Arthritis. Their team raised more than $5,000 for the cause.

After Ellie passed away on February 6th, her parents found a list of ‘rules to live by‘ that she had written. The rules were: 1) Have fun 2) No fighting 3) No pushing, shoving or hitting, and 4) Always love. After her parents found the list of rules, they decided to share it with her classmates to help comfort them after her passing.

“It’s amazing that an 8-year-old little girl knew what we should focus on,” her mother Heather Pruitt said. “She started [rule] number 5, but erased it, because she knew that’s the greatest…If you can do all those things, you’re going to be in good shape.”

As a tribute to young Ellie’s wisdom, her hometown decided to display her list of rules in various places around their community. Local businesses like Bruster’s and Chick-fil-A displayed rules 1 and 4 on signage outside their stores.

According to Ellie’s obituary, she was very artistic and loved to do crafts, draw, and paint. She was also a dancer and a musician (she played the piano). Her favorite places were school, church and the beach.

If you enjoyed reading about Ellie’s story, please don’t forget to like, share and comment below! Also, subscribe for more autoimmune disease news.