Sam Bean is a fellow Jeeper from the Oakland City, Indiana area. In March of 2015 he was diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small-Round-Cell Tumors, which is a rare form of cancer of which there are only 200 diagnosis world wide. Sam underwent a vigorous chemo regiment as he battled this monster we all call cancer. In October, Sam received his Make-a-Wish trip and was able to attend a practice and tour the training facility of the Pittsburgh Steelers and then attended a game the following weekend.
In October of 2015, Sam and his parents flew to Houston Texas for a life saving treatment at MD Anderson by Dr. Hayes-Jordan, one of the only doctors in the country to deal with this extremely rare form of cancer. On Thursday, October 22, the surgery that was scheduled to be around 10 hours was completed after a long 15 hours. Dr. Hayes-Jordan removed over 1,200 (yes, twelve hundred) tumors from Sam's abdomen area as well as his spleen, gallbladder, appendix, and portions of his bowel. This was all of the tumors in Sam's body, with exception of 2 small tumors on his liver. The surgery finished up with an hour and half infusion of heated chemotherapy. At the end of the surgery Sam was deemed to be 99% cancer free and he jumped onto the road to recovery.
Sam, being the true fighter he is, hit the road to recovery with the pedal to the metal and was able to return home before Thanksgiving. Sam returned home to the Evansville Airport on November 17th and headed to his house with an escort of several EAJ jeeps led by 2 local law enforcement officers. After a couple weeks of recuperating at home, Sam headed back to Riley's Children Hospital in Indianapolis to start his weekly radiation treatment to remove the final 2 tumors. The radiation treatments were completed on New Years Eve 2015 and were followed up by a lower dose preventative chemotherapy which Sam complete in Evansville. On February 17, 2016 Sam and his family traveled back to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis for a full body PET Scan which revealed "NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE". Sam and his family were ecstatic to finally get the report that they had be praying for. The day they feared they may never see was finally here!
BUT... The story doesn't stop there. You see, while Sam was receiving radiation treatments in Indy the week after Thanksgiving 2015, a small group of EAJ members did the unthinkable... with the help of Gully's towing, we stole Sam's beloved '91 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) and moved it to an undisclosed location in Evansville. A team of a dozen or so EAJ members worked feverishly on Sam's Jeep throughout the next 3+ months on what became know as "Project: SLAYER". With a collective tally of over $10,000 in donated parts and accessories, over 1,000 man hours, blood, sweat, and tears, we completed the Project: Slayer build with a private unveiling party on March 1, 2016 with those who helped with the build and Sam's family. With the Jeep parked on a #SammyStrong RTI Ramp, smoke and strobes flowing underneath, Sam entered the work bays of our local Discount Tire and went into total shock as he took his first glace at his SLAYER Jeep. In typical Jeeper fashion, less than 24 hours later the Jeep had a nice mud brown paint job as he took his older brother and Mom out to some of the deepest, muddiest holes he could find.
In October of 2015, Sam and his parents flew to Houston Texas for a life saving treatment at MD Anderson by Dr. Hayes-Jordan, one of the only doctors in the country to deal with this extremely rare form of cancer. On Thursday, October 22, the surgery that was scheduled to be around 10 hours was completed after a long 15 hours. Dr. Hayes-Jordan removed over 1,200 (yes, twelve hundred) tumors from Sam's abdomen area as well as his spleen, gallbladder, appendix, and portions of his bowel. This was all of the tumors in Sam's body, with exception of 2 small tumors on his liver. The surgery finished up with an hour and half infusion of heated chemotherapy. At the end of the surgery Sam was deemed to be 99% cancer free and he jumped onto the road to recovery.
Sam, being the true fighter he is, hit the road to recovery with the pedal to the metal and was able to return home before Thanksgiving. Sam returned home to the Evansville Airport on November 17th and headed to his house with an escort of several EAJ jeeps led by 2 local law enforcement officers. After a couple weeks of recuperating at home, Sam headed back to Riley's Children Hospital in Indianapolis to start his weekly radiation treatment to remove the final 2 tumors. The radiation treatments were completed on New Years Eve 2015 and were followed up by a lower dose preventative chemotherapy which Sam complete in Evansville. On February 17, 2016 Sam and his family traveled back to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis for a full body PET Scan which revealed "NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE". Sam and his family were ecstatic to finally get the report that they had be praying for. The day they feared they may never see was finally here!
BUT... The story doesn't stop there. You see, while Sam was receiving radiation treatments in Indy the week after Thanksgiving 2015, a small group of EAJ members did the unthinkable... with the help of Gully's towing, we stole Sam's beloved '91 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) and moved it to an undisclosed location in Evansville. A team of a dozen or so EAJ members worked feverishly on Sam's Jeep throughout the next 3+ months on what became know as "Project: SLAYER". With a collective tally of over $10,000 in donated parts and accessories, over 1,000 man hours, blood, sweat, and tears, we completed the Project: Slayer build with a private unveiling party on March 1, 2016 with those who helped with the build and Sam's family. With the Jeep parked on a #SammyStrong RTI Ramp, smoke and strobes flowing underneath, Sam entered the work bays of our local Discount Tire and went into total shock as he took his first glace at his SLAYER Jeep. In typical Jeeper fashion, less than 24 hours later the Jeep had a nice mud brown paint job as he took his older brother and Mom out to some of the deepest, muddiest holes he could find.
Bazinga Charities - Sammy Strong Car Show
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Bazinga Charities - Sammy Strong Car Show
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EAJ Brings the Car Show to Sam
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Chillin'
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Make-A-Wish Trip
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Pre-Surgery
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Post Operation
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Recovering
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Sam being Sam
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"God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers."
-Unknown
