Finnley has been around motorcycles her whole life. Her uncle is a retired professional motocross racer, and her grandparents own a track called Georgia Practice Facility in Cairo, Georgia. Every year, they hold a competition called The Cla$h, which brings in riders from all over the country. When it was time for this year’s race, Finnley had an idea to raise money for children fighting cancer… because she knows how hard that is since she’s battling leukemia herself.
In early 2023, Finnley had ankle pain that went on for months, compounded with compression fractures. After many doctor appointments and tests, her mother, Stacy, knew something wasn’t right.
“We were told it might be growing pains,” recalled Stacy. “But I’m an emergency room nurse. So, as her pain increased, I just knew in my heart that it wasn’t right. I pushed for a blood test, and the doctor confirmed my suspicions immediately.”
Finnley was diagnosed with leukemia in April 2023. At just eight years old, she has proven how resilient she is time and time again. She has smiled and kept in good spirits even at the most difficult stages of treatment. Finnley is very social, so the most challenging thing for her has been missing so much school and being away from her friends.
“She didn’t suffer from too many side effects until she reached the long-term maintenance phase, which is supposed to be easier,” said Stacy. “She had more hospital stays and a lung infection that was difficult to treat. Going on our wish trip changed everything for her.”
When planning for The Cla$h began, the family looked to add a charity element to the weekend. Stacy and Finnley knew who they wanted to raise money for immediately.
“CURE was with us from day one,” shared Stacy. “When we were first diagnosed, we didn’t go home for eight days. We were in survival mode – only eating and leaving the room sporadically. One day, a lady from CURE peeked into the door with a bag of food. She said, ‘I know it’s hard right now, but you need to eat. So I’m going to leave this here for you.’ That was everything to me because I knew right then that I wasn’t alone. And CURE has been there the entire time.”
Finnley set up a table at the event to sell coffee and donuts and share CURE’s mission with all the riders and spectators. She set her own alarm and got up at 5:30 a.m. so she could get the donuts and be at the track when people began to show up. She stayed until 11:00 p.m. both nights and raised $1500 for CURE.
“We were so proud of her,” said Stacy. “She had a purpose, and it meant a lot for her to be able to give back.”
Finnley is doing great these days. She loves school and spending time with friends. Her treatment should end in June, but her mom believes that Finnley’s unselfish heart will always want to help children who have to fight cancer like she has.
“Daniel’s freshman year and part of his sophomore year were from home because of COVID,” Felicia said. “He could only do partial days during his junior year because of treatment and finally got to go back to school full time for his senior year. He was very ready to get back to his friends and routine.”
I’m so proud of him.
We walked into the hospital and Levi began having what I can only explain as a panic attack. He clung to me and wouldn’t let go. He was terrified to go back to the 5th floor where he was diagnosed. He kept saying, “Mama, don’t you remember how bad it is there? It’s my worst nightmare. Mama I already lived my worst nightmare.”
When we do these things, we have the opportunity to move from a quick check-in about school that involves the parent looking at the calendar on their phone to check the family’s itinerary and the teenager answering quickly before going to their room to a more intentional interaction that includes eye contact, lightheartedness in nonverbal communication and shared laughter about an event of the day, and two family members ending the conversation hopefully feeling more connected to one another. If a conversation is not as pleasant in subject matter, this skill still allows for connection via expressing understanding of one another’s points, even if full agreement cannot be reached. While many of us know the importance of aspects of the GIVE skill, intentionally utilizing the skill as a whole grounds us in the goal of connection with our teenager and provides us with a framework of how to do so.
“My world just dropped with those three letters,” Heather said. “I was absolutely crushed.”
