It wasn’t easy, but she survived. Now, an Indian Land woman wants to help save others

A local cancer survivor triumphed over her disease and is now in a tough competition to help raise money for patients who are be fighting their own battles.

Indian Land resident Amy Eberhardt is hoping to be named Woman of the Year for the Charlotte chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The annual Man & Woman of the Year competition runs 10 weeks beginning March 23. There are 17 candidates and Eberhardt is the only South Carolinian campaigning for the title this year.

A shocking diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 26 plunged her headfirst into a world of frightening treatments, remissions and a bone marrow transplant that saved her life.

“You look at your life in a certain way and you have your plans, or what you think it's supposed to be like, you get married and you have kids and it's la la land,” Eberhardt said, “And then it's all taken out from under you and you have to sort of go with the punches.”

Swollen glands around her bikini line were a sign to her doctor that something wasn't right. The day she was diagnosed was the same day her mother was released from the hospital after treatment for throat cancer. It was an emotional wake up call for Eberhardt.

“I didn't have any kids and I wasn't married then. It was almost like I was indestructible. I didn't ever think I was going to die,” she said.

Eberhardt underwent her first round of chemotherapy and was declared in remission in 1997. But a year and-a-half later her cancer returned. Another round of chemotherapy, an experimental drug and lots of support from a group of fellow cancer survivors helped her achieve remission once again the next year.

With extremely high odds of her cancer reoccurring, Eberhardt decided to go to what was considered drastic lengths to prevent it from coming back. She enrolled in an experimental trial to undergo a bone marrow transplant, along with additional chemotherapy and radiation.

“They told me ‘you're going in with a 50-50. You may not even make it through the transplant,’” she said.

The risk she took was a success. Eberhardt has been cancer-free for 16 years.

Now she wants to turn her success story into action. Each Man or Woman of the Year candidate was nominated by a committee to compete. Campaign manager Allie Hanson said they'll really have to work hard to earn the title.

“A lot of this competition is people reaching out to their networks and asking for support,” she said, “The majority of the campaign (money) comes in that way.”

The competition has been going on for the better part of a decade in the Lancaster and York county areas. Last year, nine candidates successfully raised $441,000. This year’s goal is $1 million, which, if reached, would set a new record.

Eberhardt hopes to raise at least $50,000 of that, but is eager to try and surpass her own goal.

“I was really inspired this year to take this on and to raise money to help not only cure cancer, but help people living with and dealing with cancer have better lives,” she said.

The eight women candidates in the competition are running in honor of 4-year-old Levi Vetter, a Leukemia patient who is the campaign's Boy of the Year. The nine men in the competition are running in honor of 12-year-old Ally Davis, who was declared cured of her Hodgkin's lymphoma last September. Hanson said both children are reminders of why this competition is so important.

“Our goal is that other kids don't have to go through what they did,” Hanson said, “They're such an inspiration and so even though it’s a competition, at the end of the day our slogan for the campaign is ‘Whoever wins, cancer loses.’”

Eberhardt agreed and said after the great lengths she went through to save her own life, she was unable to have children. She and her husband adopted their 6-year-old son, Aaron. Eberhardt said becoming a mother has now greatly changed her perspective on her journey.

“I was blessed with cancer because I have my son; I wouldn't have him otherwise,” she said

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 11:03 AM with the headline "It wasn’t easy, but she survived. Now, an Indian Land woman wants to help save others."