ELLIE FELTNER

A Powerful Voice for Those in Need

story by HEATHER STEINBERGER            photos by CHARLOTTE BERKELEY

Ellie Feltner can pinpoint the exact month that split her life between “before” and “after.” It was May 2021.

Before that, Ellie was another young adult with life just starting to take flight. Born and raised in Beaufort, she attended elementary, middle, and high school in town before moving to Japan for senior year; her mother worked for Beaufort Public School District and took a teaching job on base through the U.S. Department of Defense.

Ellie returned to Beaufort after her high school graduation. She attended cosmetology school and worked for eight years at Bangs Salon.

“I thought I’d die behind the chair,” she says, laughing.

She married Kevin Feltner on Dec. 31, 2019, and in fall 2020, they welcomed a beautiful little boy named Crew. The future looked golden. That is, until seven months later, when Ellie realized something was wrong.

Crew was bruising often and easily. He wasn’t even crawling yet, so she took him for a checkup.
After three visits in one week and doctors repeatedly insisting that everything was normal, Ellie and Kevin demanded to have lab work done. It was May 29, 2021.

“We got a lot of resistance, because it was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, but we pushed for a hemoglobin check,” Ellie says. “It came back half of what it should have been. We trusted our gut and took him to the emergency room at Beaufort Memorial Hospital and did full labs there. They were fairly sure it was leukemia.”

Crew needed to be flown to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he would be admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. Ellie and Kevin could not accompany him on the helicopter, so they stood helplessly on the BMH helipad and watched their baby fly away without them.

“We were just 25 years old and new parents,” Ellie says. “We went home to pack whatever we would need for our time at MUSC. What would we need? How long would we be there? I was frozen. Kevin got everything packed for us.”

Their first image, when they walked into the pediatric ICU, was that of the oncologist holding Crew in her arms, rocking him and feeding him. It was 9 p.m.

“That’s when we knew what kind of care Crew was going to have,” Ellie says with a smile. “She left her home and came back to the hospital to be with him while he was waiting for us.”

The little boy underwent blood transfusions and a bone marrow biopsy, which revealed infantile B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The Feltners learned that not only is leukemia the No. 1 most diagnosed form of childhood cancer, this particular type of blood cancer is challenging to treat in children under a year old.

The medical team didn’t waste any time. When they conducted the initial bone marrow biopsy, they also put chemotherapy drugs into Crew’s spinal fluid through a procedure called a lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap.

“He went into remission immediately,” Ellie recalls. “We were so fortunate, because he did respond well throughout the trajectory of his treatment.”

Unfortunately, that treatment had to be done on an inpatient basis due to Crew’s very young age. In the months to come, the baby would grow and attain critical milestones in the hospital rather than at home.
He also underwent a routine biopsy every two weeks to monitor his condition. In September 2021, the Feltners got bad news: Crew was relapsing.

The medical team shifted gears, administering an immunotherapy called Blinatumomab. It enlists the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, connecting T cells to leukemia cells.

“Crew had to be in remission, so he could have a bone marrow transplant,” Ellie explains. “His doctor scoured the bone marrow registry for a match and then moved to the cord blood registry. No matches. That’s just how it goes — some kids have 20-plus matches, and others have none.

“So, we had a choice,” she continues. “Give him a morphine drip until he passes away or do a half-match transplant.”

With this type of transplant, the donor is not a perfect match but shares half of their HLA markers with the recipient. Usually, the donor is a parent, sibling, or child of the patient.

Ellie shared five of 10 markers with Crew. Kevin shared six, making him the better choice.

“I had a C-section, so it was his turn for sure,” Ellie says with a chuckle. “He was the largest patient at the children’s hospital! It was quite the celebration.”

Crew received his father’s bone marrow on Oct. 28, 2021. It was his “rebirth-day.”

“It was the best and worst day of my life,” Ellie says. “He was lying in bed, crying, and so uncomfortable. I couldn’t hold him because of all the lines. I just went to my cot and cried too.”

Then a nurse came in with a white lantern and told her to open the blinds. Looking down from the 10th floor to the parking lot, Ellie saw a sea of red lanterns and waving hands.

“It was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night event,” she marvels, shaking her head. “I got to see this incredible support from absolute strangers, who would have no way of knowing who was waving a white lantern in our hospital window. They didn’t know it was Crew’s Day Zero.”

“It was my first realization of LLS as an organization, and what they do for patients,” she continued. “Seeing it, feeling it, was everything I needed. I started digging into it. This national organization that has made such big strides in research, advocacy, and awareness. I wanted to be part of it.”

LLS is dedicated to curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improving the quality of life for patients and their families. Over the last 75 years, the organization has invested nearly $1.7 billion in groundbreaking, lifesaving research; built a network of more than 30,000 volunteer advocates to fight for laws that grant equal access to treatment and care; and provided free educational resources, programs, and support services for patients and their families.

Ellie would get her opportunity to be an active part of this massive nationwide effort sooner than she could have imagined. She and Kevin brought Crew home for good in January 2022. They bought a house two months later, and around that time, LLS staff reached out to ask if Crew could be one of the two Honored Heroes for the Charleston Visionaries of the Year fundraising campaign.

The Feltners gave them a wholehearted yes. They watched the Charleston campaign raise $1.4 million in 10 weeks, and they attended the black-tie gala.

“It was so cool,” Ellie says. “They announced the total amount raised, we met the Visionary candidates and staff, and I went on stage to share Crew’s story. The day after that, I called and told the staff I wanted to be a candidate in April 2023. I nominated myself!”

Halfway through the Charleston campaign in 2024, Ellie learned LLS had a job opening: campaign development manager of Visionaries of the Year for the Savannah market, which includes Beaufort. She applied immediately.

“I got hired on Apr. 16, 2024, so I just had my first anniversary,” she says. “Now I get to be the manager behind the madness! I help candidates strategize and raise funds, and I also connect with families. I appreciated it so much when it was us, and honestly, it is the main reason I do this work today.”

At press time, the Savannah Visionaries were partway through their 10-week campaign. This year’s Honored Heroes are Micki, 5, and Tash, 9.

Micki was diagnosed at 4 years old with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She is currently in treatment at Memorial Health in Savannah.

Tash was diagnosed at 8 weeks old, also with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Much like Crew, initial treatment was going well until it wasn’t. Tash endured a half-match bone marrow transplant at 2 years old, with his father as his donor. He remains in remission now and attends Riverview Charter School in Beaufort.

Seven candidates are raising money for LLS through the Savannah campaign. One of those candidates is Beaufort native Katie Cunningham-Tashjian, and her goal is to raise $20,000.

On Apr. 19, Katie held a very special fundraiser at her home, Tidalholm, once called the most famous historic house in South Carolina by Country Living magazine. Built in 1853 by plantation owner Edgar Fripp, the house was featured prominently in Hollywood films The Big Chill and The Great Santini.
Thanks to Katie’s thoughtful partnership with Balance Barre + Fitness, City Java, and Zest Pediatrics attendees enjoyed yoga, meditation, connection, hot coffee, and delicious breakfast treats under the shady oaks on Tidalholm’s broad green lawn. What’s more, Weezy Alcott, owner of the private art therapy studio The Artful Hand, donated arts-and-crafts boxes for attendees to purchase for children currently undergoing treatment for blood cancer.

“We’ve had fundraisers in the past at our home, but the concept always comes down to one thing: to bring the community together for a cause,” Katie says. “I thought Balance Barre + Fitness was the perfect partner, because they are very community-oriented. Annie Truax-Dunn, the owner, is so incredibly generous with her time and energy.”

Katie has a personal connection to this cause on more than one level. Her husband, John, lost his father to Hodgkin’s lymphoma when he was just 11 years old, and she and Ellie became mothers two days apart from one another.

“I will never be able to comprehend her strength as she watched her own child fight this awful disease,” Katie writes on her Visionary page. “(When Ellie asked me) to become a candidate for this year’s campaign, I couldn’t help but say, ‘Of course.’”

Funds raised during the Visionaries campaigns are unrestricted, which is vital for LLS. It allows the organization to funnel resources to where they are most needed.

“It’s important for donors to realize that funding for LLS also helps move the needle for other cancers,” Ellie says. “LLS has helped fund over 70 percent of the blood cancer treatments approved by the FDA over the last two decades.”

For the Feltners, life once again is shining with hope and promise. Crew is now almost 5 years old, and he has been cancer-free for more than 3 years. He is whip-smart, thriving in his class at St. Peter’s Catholic School (they call him “the mayor of St. Peter’s”), and he wants to be an oncologist one day.

He also has a baby sister named Evelyn Ruth. She arrived in June 2022, just months after the little family came home from the hospital, and her middle name honors a child who was going through treatment alongside Crew.

“I found out I was pregnant during Crew’s last round of radiation,” Ellie shares. “The nurse said you can’t be around chemo if you’re pregnant. I had no reason to believe I was, but I Door Dashed a pregnancy test. It was positive. When Crew started his treatment, I couldn’t touch him for three days.”

She says the whole experience now feels like a fever dream.

“Two cots, 10 months,” she says, exhaling heavily. “We would just sit and cry, asking each other, ‘What do we do if he dies?’ In those quiet moments, we would say the words everyone else was thinking. You never expect you’ll have to think or say these things especially at 25 years old.”

Faith and community got them through the dark times, Ellie says. After Crew’s initial diagnosis, her Bangs Salon coworkers helped them move out of their first home and get their belongings into storage. Cards, letters, and prayers filled their hospital room. Friends even organized a community “Crew Cup” golf tournament to raise funds, allowing them to buy a camper so they could still have a Beaufort home base, support themselves when neither of them could work, and enjoy an occasional date night.

“Beaufort showed up,” she says. “Nobody has ever met a stranger here. We’re a family. No matter where you’re from, if you need support, you will get it.”

Ellie is now busy preparing for the Visionary of the Year Grand Finale Celebration gala on May 10 at the Hyatt Regency Savannah. She reports that adult Visionaries raised over $70,000 on Visionary Action Day, a day in which campaigns across the country rally together to raise as many funds as possible in 24 hours.

She also noted that during their own seven-week campaign, Student Visionaries raised a jaw-dropping $380,000. This program gives high school students a powerful leadership opportunity, one in which they can make a real difference.

“Everyone is so passionate,” she says. “They love the families, love the patients, and know that every single dollar counts. As for me, I’m glad I can do this for Micki and Tash, and for all the parents who don’t want or need to speak about this ever again. I can do it. God gave me a voice, and I get to use it.”

If you know a high school student who might like to learn more about getting involved with Student Visionaries of the Year, contact Sarah Tigue, campaign development manager, at (813) 838-7474 or Sarah.Tigue@lls.org.

For information about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to make a donation, visit lls.org. To learn more about the Savannah-area Visionaries, including Beaufort natives Katie Cunningham-Tashjian and Sarah Duncan Araneda, visit https://llsvisionaries.org/visionaries-year-savannah or contact Ellie Feltner, campaign development manager, at (843) 812-5967 or Ellie.Feltner@lls.org.