Eli Talley was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in August of 2005 He was 4 years old. He received several rounds of high dose chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, and radiation but it wasn’t enough to keep the cancer at bay. Eli was off treatment for 6 short months when he relapsed.
He continued to have active disease and remained on continuous treatment until his passing in October of 2019.
15 years ago, treatment options for relapsed Neuroblastoma were very limited in his home state. Eli began traveling back and forth from Arkansas to Philadelphia so he could participate in promising clinical trials. He made 57 trips back and forth until 2017 when his family relocated to Philadelphia to be closer to his treatment team. Traveling for treatment is necessary for so many families that have a child in treatment for cancer. It also takes a huge emotional and financial toll on these families. Funding research is instrumental in getting us closer to the cure. Families need to have access to clinical trials and cutting edge treatments for their children without worrying about how they will be able to afford to get there.
Over the 14 years that Eli courageously fought cancer, music became his refuge. Unable to participate in sports and often spending time away from his friends because of his disease and traveling for treatment, Eli picked up a guitar. His Dad taught him the basics and Eli took off from there. Finding new music that he loved, watching instructional videos over and over again, and hours of practice every day were part of his daily routine. Elijah was a self taught student of music and became a brilliant guitarist. It just came naturally to him. While guitar was his main instrument, he was easily able to learn any instrument he picked up. When he played guitar, he was seen for something other than his disease. He wasn’t the kid with cancer. He was the kid that was an amazing guitarist. He was happiest when he was playing music. He was most comfortable when he had a guitar in his hand. Eli was music.
photo by Mike Miller
Music was so important to Eli. He loved being on stage with his friends. He loved writing music, listening to live music, working with the music therapist at the hospital, and he loved his guitars. Being in treatment for childhood cancer limits the activities a child or teen can participate in. Since music was so instrumental to Eli’s well-being, (see what i did there) we want to be able to give access to music to other children and teens in similar situations. Not long before he passed, Eli was granted a wish and gifted with his dream guitar. It meant the world to him and to his family. We want to give other parents the opportunity to see that kind of pure joy that the gift of music can bring.
Eli is no longer with us. Clinical trials gave us many more years with him than we would have had. They gave him time to grow up to become an amazing young man. Those years gave him the time he needed to become the musician he wanted to be. They allowed him to leave us with the gift of his music that we will be able to enjoy for years to come.
Our hope is that through this foundation in his name, we can continue the work that was so important to him and in doing so, his legacy and his music will live on.