Mystic — Four-year-old Eliana Palacio of Mystic always brightened up any room.

Eliana, who was nonverbal and learned sign language, had such a powerful spirit that she didn’t need words to make people happy or show people how happy she was, said her grandmother Karen Dole. She touched many lives with her personality and always wore fashionable outfits and hair-dos.

“She smiled all the time and giggled,” Dole said.

Eliana was terminally ill with a rare genetic disorder in the pediatric intensive care unit at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, where she died Friday evening.

In recent days, people from Connecticut and all over the world showed their support for Eliana and her family by etching the letter “E” in the sand and posting photos on social media in her honor.

Friends, family members and supporters also recently joined her for a beach day at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, and the community rallied behind her.

“It’s overwhelming,” Dole, a Mystic resident and the owner of The Bridge Market in Groton, said of the support.

Medical journey

Eliana had mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which left her with about half the energy of a typical 3- or 4-year-old, Dole explained. Doctors had been searching for a diagnosis for Eliana for years, since she was about 1½ and hadn’t really grown and wasn’t walking yet. She was diagnosed with the syndrome, which is not easily diagnosed, while in the pediatric intensive care unit this year.

Eliana had long COVID-19, which appears to have affected the progression of the mitochondrial depletion syndrome, Dole said.

Dole said Eliana contracted the coronavirus at the end of January, developed pneumonia connected with it and was transported from Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, where she remained in the pediatric intensive care unit for 13 days. She was home for about 10 days and went into respiratory arrest. She returned to the PICU for about 45 days and then was sent to long-term rehabilitation at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain.

Dole said Eliana was at the HSC for about three weeks when she again went into respiratory arrest and was helicoptered back to Yale, where doctors decided on a tracheotomy, or insertion of a breathing tube, because she could no longer breathe on her own.

After she stabilized, she was brought back to the HSC and was there for about 7 days when she started running a fever of 107.4 degrees and was taken back to Yale, about three weeks ago.

That’s where an MRI found that she had lesions on her brain that were incurable, Dole said.

Dole said doctors and nurses had gone above and beyond in their care and kindness.

Special beach day

About 100 people, including friends, family members and medical staff, recently joined Eliana for a special beach day on July 12 at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven. People walked up to Eliana to say their goodbyes.

The day came about after a flight paramedic asked Dole and Eliana’s parents, Christine Dole and Richard Palacio, if there was anything that they could do for Eliana. The family said a trip to the beach, which was one of Eliana’s favorite things to do.

Dole said Eliana loved the sound of the waves on the beach, listening to and looking at the water while on her great-grandfather’s boat, riding around the yard in her remote-control jeep and watching her favorite Disney movies: “Encanto,” “Moana” and “Finding Nemo.”

Christine Dole contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Yale coordinated with the foundation, among others, to organize the day. Dole contacted Groton Town police Officer Heather McClelland, who reached out to other police departments that all pitched in to help out. McClelland and support dog Chase and about eight other police officers and dog teams joined Eliana’s family and supporters for the day.

The Q Bridge was shut down to other traffic so the family could easily get to the beach, Dole said. A motorcade escorted them.

Dole said the day was serene as well as emotional, and she got the opportunity to hold her granddaughter after six months in the hospital.

McClelland said the whole Bridge Market family is near and dear to the police department’s heart. Police go there for lunch and work with the store on community events, and the family is always willing to help the community, so this was a chance to show support during a really tough time.

McClelland said Eliana was such a great kid. “She’s the sweetest thing and obviously just tough as nails,” she said Friday afternoon. “Her family’s just gone through so much and still is doing everything for us and the community.”

People also are snapping photos of the letter E written in the sand and posting the images on social media in honor of Eliana.

Stephanie Settele, Christine Dole’s college roommate who lives on Long Island, initially had created an E in the sand with seashells and snapped a photo and sent it to Christine to show support for her and Eliana. Stephanie took more photos of E’s in the sand, and also made an E during the beach day in New Haven, in honor of Eliana.

After Christine Dole posted on social media about the idea, more than 300 people, from Connecticut to Canada, Guam, Hawaii, Greece and France, posted similar photos on social media. People are asked to post their photos on Facebook and Instagram using #EbytheSea and tagging @EmbracingEliana.

“She’s such a sweet little girl,” Settele said Friday morning. “She’s been such a fighter through so much. She’s endured more than most people go through in an entire lifetime and she’s done it in six months, and she’s just been a strong sweet little girl, and I just want her to know that she’s always with us wherever we are and however we can be there. We want her to see and be part of all the places that we are.”

Settele hopes people continue to post photos for Eliana for #EbytheSea.

“It’s just amazing to watch,” she said. “It’s just such a beautiful thing that just seems to keep going and we hope it continues to grow like this for the rest of time. It’s just a beautiful thing to see all the support, all the love, all the care.”

People who were not close to the beach got creative when taking photos, Karen Dole said. A family at a waterpark in Texas lined up all their shoes to make an E. The pizza cook at The Bridge Market made an E out of pepperoni and took a photo in front of the wood-fired pizza oven.

“That’s been a real pick-me-up for our family,” Dole said.

Christine’s friends also created a GoFundMe page at bit.ly/elianagfm to share Eliana’s story and fundraise.

Eliana’s classmates at Mystic River Magnet School, where she went to prekindergarten from September to January, sent her cards and videos, Dole said.

Staff members at the Bridge Market also have helped out while Karen Dole was visiting with her granddaughter.

Dole said the family is so grateful for all the support.

Dole said the message Eliana would have for people is to “be humble and be kind.”

k.drelich@theday.com