6 years ago, Adam Tanksley was fighting for his life. He was diagnosed with cancer–Stage IV, Anaplastic, Wilms Tumor–just 6 weeks before his 4th birthday. He had a rare, unfavorable histology, kidney cancer that had already spread to his neck, chest, both lungs, abdomen and pelvis. He was given a 25% survival rate and an 80% chance of relapse. During his battle he spent 325 nights at Levine Children’s Hospital battling cancer, including 120 rounds of chemotherapy as well as 18 days of radiation from neck to pelvis. Adam went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated, but, remained on life support for 3 weeks during a 5 week stay in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He overcame many obstacles and serious life threatening battles. Adam truly is a miracle.
Today, Adam is 11 years old and will be entering the 6th grade. He is active and enjoys playing golf, baseball and swimming. He takes Kempo Karate and recently won his first sparring match tournament. He has a older brother, Austin, and younger sister, Alyssa. Adam says he loves animals; he spends a lot of time playing with his 3 dogs: Scooby, Alli and Lexi.
Most importantly, today Adam has the strength to give back. He is actively involved in the pediatric cancer foundation established in his honor: the Adam Faulk Tanksley Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit, pediatric cancer foundation that raises money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. Adam recently played in the annual foundation golf tournament with his brother, Austin. However, he says his favorite fundraiser is the annual charity Christmas Tree Lot. He is the “right hand man” for selling Christmas Trees as well as helping carry and load the trees on customer cars.
Since Adam’s time at the hospital, the Adam Faulk Tanksley Foundation has raised significant funds to support the Developmental Therapeutics Program at Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Children’s Hospital. The Developmental Therapeutics program’s mission is to bring Phase I & II clinical trials to the Charlotte area so no child ever has to leave the area for their care. We remain grateful to the Adam Faulk Tanksley Foundation and the Tanksley family for continuing to support Levine Children’s Hospital in this special way and for bringing hope to our patients!
Learn more about how our partners in the community are giving back to support the FIGHT against pediatric cancer: https://www.atriumhealthfoundation.org/fight