Honoring Emily Bode: Eternal Reef Memorial

Emily Michelle Bode

April 23, 1994 - November 9, 2024

In 2021, at just 27 years old, Emily was diagnosed with Triple Negative Metaplastic Breast Cancer. She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. She also had genetic testing that revealed she had the BRCA 1 gene mutation, which increases a person's risk for this very aggressive cancer. In September 2024, Emmy got the unfortunate news that the cancer had metastasized (or spread). She was referred to the University of Alabama Birmingham Cancer Center and was accepted into a clinical trial. On Oct 31st, she went to start the clinical trial, but her vitals were concerning. She was sent to the ER, then ICU, and after tests showed a 5 cm tumor in her heart, she was given the devastating diagnosis that her cancer was no longer treatable. She said she wanted to go home to Mobile, Alabama, to die. On November 9th, 2024, she passed away peacefully.

Emily chose to donate her body to the University of South Alabama Anatomical Gifts program. Once her cremains are returned, she asked that they be placed in an Eternal Reef Memorial that is created to help rebuild reefs.

You can learn more about the University of South Alabama Anatomical Gifts program here: https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/com/administration/anatomical-gifts.html

You can learn more about the Eternal Reefs Memorial here: https://www.eternalreefs.com/

Any funds beyond the cost of Emily's memorial will be donated to breast cancer research.