Bands join up to help with boy's cancer treatment

Eleven-year-old Tyler Cheatham may never play a single note, but this weekend he’ll be a bona fide rock star.

“He’s really excited,” said his father, Chris Cheatham. “Although he’s worried we’re going to try to get him up on stage to sing.”

Tyler, a Campbell County boy, has been diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This weekend, he’ll be the guest of honor at a two-day benefit concert featuring a dozen local bands.

The event, called “Band-ing Together for Tyler Cheatham,” is the product of an outpouring of support from a music community that has a deep history with the Cheatham family. Tyler’s father plays lead guitar for Dragonfly, a popular rock band that makes regular appearances at festivals and venues throughout the region.

“They’re a really tight-knit family,” said Chris Stinnett, a soundman for Dragonfly and organizer of Band-ing Together. “Chris, his kids are his life. When all of this came up, it was just a very emotional time.”

Stinnett, who’s seen the effects of cancer within his own family, having lost an uncle and grandmother to the disease, was moved to do something to help the Cheathams. He posted a message on Facebook proposing a concert. In short order, he had so many volunteers he had to expand the schedule to two days.

“Everyone was on board right off the bat,” he said. “It’s been pretty amazing. The whole thing came together in just a few days.”

Tyler, a video game aficionado who’s growing so fast he’s already taller than his mother, was diagnosed with primary systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma in March. This is a rare but highly treatable form of lymphoma that affects children more often than adults.

What followed for the Cheathams was a blur of scans, surgery and chemotherapy that Chris Cheatham described as the “worst four months of my life.”

Tyler was treated at Duke Children’s Hospital in North Carolina, where he underwent seven rounds of chemotherapy. He’s due back next week for a scan to determine if the treatment was successful.

“Throughout this whole process, Tyler has been really resilient,” Stinnett said. “He’s a really nice kid. One of those you can’t help but love straight off when you meet him. To be on the outside watching him go through all this and see him handle it like he did, it has been amazing.”

The doctors are hopeful that Tyler will be found to be in remission. His father said he seems to be recovering.

“He’s been doing really good,” Cheatham said. “He’s actually getting his color back and he’s started to grow some hair. He graduated from elementary school last year and is looking forward to middle school.”

When the idea of a benefit concert was first raised, Cheatham said he was hesitant. Although the family has racked up a large medical bill, he said they do have insurance and have not been “financially crippled” by this experience.

But ultimately, he came to see it as a way to both raise awareness about lymphoma and celebrate his son. Hopefully, it will be a precursor to some good news when they go back to the hospital.

“This will show Tyler that people care about him and want to celebrate with him,” Cheatham said, adding any money raised that is not applied to Tyler’s medical bills will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“This has been absolutely overwhelming,” Cheatham said of the support they’ve received. “I don’t even have the words to thank everybody. I’m so thankful to my musician friends. It’s been very touching.”

WHEN: Noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Benjamin’s Restaurant, 14900 Forest Road, Forest

ADMISSION: $10 per day. No charge for children 12 and under. Those who keep their wristbands Saturday can come back Sunday for $5.

LINEUP: Twelve bands are on the roster, including Collision, Broken Planet and The Groove Monkeys. For more information, visit www.thedragonflyband.com.