KATY TILLEY-BREAST CANCER AWARENESS


14-YEAR-OLD TENNESSEE SOAP BOX DERBY RACER MAKES HISTORY GOING TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FOURTH TIME, SPREADS IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT CANCER

Must read Important message:


This article is about my journey with my family during our Soap Box racing career. I’m bringing this story back from over 23 years ago since breast cancer awareness month is October and how Soap Box Derby helped my family endure the hard times of battling breast cancer and reconstruction surgery.


Judy Tilley was diagnosed with the most aggressive, deadliest form of Her2 metastatic breast cancer with a death sentence of 2 years from diagnosis 23 years ago by Dr Kern from Knoxville Tn with a large tumor and cancer present in her lymph nodes at stage 4 and giving patients diagnosed with her condition having a life expectancy of approximately 2 years to live. She tried taking the Chemo drug called the Red Devil and due to her lack of bone marrow she had to discontinue the treatment because it was literally killing her.


Dr Kern suggested a trial drug called Herceptin, we took his advice and started the treatment. My wife is well and still living with us today because of the new chemo drug Herceptin and by the grace of God!


Herceptin, also known as Trastuzumab, is a monoclonal antibody that has been called a "miracle drug" for its impact on breast cancer treatment. It's been described as a ground breaking advancement in Her2 breast cancer treatment that has saved millions of lives!


We didn’t think about it at the time but getting involved in Soap Box Racing kept us motivated and wanting to compete and win! This was giving us the same kind of energy to win the battle of breast cancer! Scroll down and read the original full article and then read the Downhill Miracles true story!

Read full article published by,

Tom Satkowiak

Assistant Sports Information Director

University of Tennessee


14-YEAR-OLD TENNESSEE SOAP BOX DERBY RACER MAKES HISTORY, SPREADS IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT CANCER


ATHENS, Tenn. -- Katy Tilley, a 14-year-old soap box derby veteran, made history last Saturday by winning her third local title and advancing to the All-American Soap Box Derby National Championships in Akron, Ohio, for the fourth time.


Speeding down the track in a pink and blue car that featured the pink breast cancer ribbon and the words, “Find a Cure,” Tilley defeated a field of male participants in Athens’ first-ever Masters Division competition.


“When we got into this sport five years ago, we could have never imagined that Katy would make four trips to the national championships,” Katy’s mother, Judy Tilley, said. “This year we knew it was going to be her final go-around and her final car. We wanted to make this last experience special as a family. Now we’re headed to Akron for the final time, and Katy is racing to ‘Find a cure.’ It has definitely turned out to be special.”


Katy’s upcoming appearance in Akron this July marks the fourth of her career. In her three previous appearances in the stock, super-stock and super-stock rally divisions her family cheered her on despite the presence of the psychological stress of cancer. Judy was battling breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy treatments during the 2002 championships. In addition Katy’s grandfather Eugene Tilley was simultaneously battling colon cancer (he passed two days after Katy’s return from Akron). Then in 2003, with Judy going through her final stages of chemotherapy treatment, the family went to Akron bearing the thought of Judy’s father, Charlie Holbert, and his personal battle with pancreatic cancer. He succumbed to the disease that October.


Katy reached the national championships again as a super-stock rally racer in July of 2004, and Judy once again made the trip to Akron this time bearing the thought of the painful breast reconstruction surgery that was impending upon her return home to Tennessee.


Katy took a one-year hiatus from the racetrack during the summer of 2005 before deciding to try her hand in this year’s inaugural Athens, Tenn., Master Division competition. The thought of cancer was still present, but this time the message was a positive one. Judy Tilley has been in remission for the past two years, although she still has the chemotherapy port that was surgically inserted into her chest. Judy, her husband, David, and the entire Tilley family have become active in the fight against cancer and the “Find a Cure” campaign. That activism led to Katy’s new pink, cancer-themed racecar.


Katy is the only racer in the 13-year history of the Athens championships to win each division (stock, super-stock and masters). She is also the only Athens racer to earn four trips to the national championships. This year's championships are July 22 at Derby Downs in Akron.


“We’ll finally be able to make the trip to Akron and really enjoy it,” David said. “In years past, it was like walking on pins and needles because there was always someone in the family fighting cancer. This year we can go, have a good time and increase awareness with Katy’s car.”


###


Tom Satkowiak

Assistant Sports Information Director

University of Tennessee


Bring All Anerican Soap Box Derby to Oak Ridge


With TVA, Kairos Power, ORNL, Y-12 and all the new developments coming to Oak Ridge should sponsor the All American Soap Box Derby and construct the biggest and fastest track in the country! Heritage Center, the new air port, and more coming to the area would be a great location for racing and good revenue for the city of Oak Ridge. Soap box derby is a non-profit STEM, (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program for youth to learn how to build cars that are equally built to the same specs like nascar making it a fair competition. They learn to work with their hands from age 7 to 20 learning about gravity racing, air dynamics, axle and wheel alignment, weight distribution, craftsmanship, and sportsmanship which makes leadership. Watch some of the 2024 World Championship races, Learn More!

Website Created and Powered by David Tilley

Toby Skilled Trades Consulting LLC.


Created and Powered by David Tilley

Toby Skilled Trades Consulting LLC.