LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A southern Indiana woman once months away from death climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for a cause in February.
Tobi Sample was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma in 2013 at the age of 40 years old. Doctors didn't expect her live, but now she has been in remission for 10 years as she nears her 50th birthday.
Sample was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2008 while living in San Antonio. The then 35-year-old had a small bump on her chest, leading to a biopsy.
"At Stage 2, you cut it out and you're done," Sample said.
With her children 12 and 9 years old, Sample said life continued on after the initial bout with cancer.
But five years later, Amelanotic Nodular Melanoma resurfaced, and it was even more severe.
"Another spot came up," Sample said. "I knew Stage 4 in 2013 was not the same as Stage 4 now because of treatment options. When I found out I had Stage 4 in 2013, I thought it would be a death sentence for me. I think a lot of people thought the same thing."
Tobi Sample receives treatment for melanoma.
Her husband, Stephen, called her a dead woman walking because the diagnosis had a 97% death rate. Despite the grim odds, she didn't lose hope.
"It's amazing, she is a rock star, she always has been," Stephen said. "If anyone was going to pull through this it was going to be her."
The problem for Sample was treatment options weren't available. The family went on a week-long vacation in Florida thinking it could be the final time together.
"You have to tell the kids when they look at you and ask 'are you going to die' you can't say 'no' because you aren't really sure," Sample said. "The diagnosis itself was a lot different because of the severity and the spreading that had happened."
Stephen, who is a doctor, found a clinical trial at University of North Carolina. After dealing with "excruciating" pain because the cancer had metastasized into her spine, ribs, lung and clavicle, the clinical trial changed her chances.
"They allowed me in, and they didn't have to because of my condition wasn't up to par of what they would normally allow in a trial," Sample said.
Sample and her family drove to North Carolina every three weeks for a year, until the drug, Keytruda, was approved. She then could receive the treatment at University of Louisville Brown Cancer Center.
This fall, Sample's melanoma will be in remission for 10 years, but she didn't wait around for that milestone to begin supporting others by doing what she loves.
Cleared by doctors, Sample began running half-marathons and started sponsoring a girl, Marie Roise, with Africa New Life. She went on a mission trip to Rwanda, which introduced her to the possibility of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, along with meeting Roise, who is now 16 years old and her family.
Tobi Sample climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Feb. 2023.
Sample had planned to climb the mountain six years ago, but decided not to. She signed up again, but then the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the trip. The climb helped to raise money for Africa New Life.
"I have a body that can move, and I didn't expect that I was going to be able to, so the chance that I can run half-marathons and hike a mountain that I shouldn't be able to hike, it proves something to me of what I'm capable of, post-cancer."
The 42-mile climb that demanded seven hours a day of hiking wasn't easy. It took six-and-a-half days to climb the mountain, and another day-and-a-half to go down. The group's climb raised thousands of dollars that will provide more than 220,000 meals to children.
With a goal of raising $15,000, Sample personally raised $13,845.
Once she completed the trek up and down the mountain, Sample flew to Rwanda to celebrate. She was gone for almost three weeks.
Tobi Sample with Steps Against Melanoma group.
Back in the U.S., Sample has turned her attention to raising funds for Melanoma research and annual fundraising walk held in Louisville. She has been a part of the fundraising event for AIM at Melanoma Foundation for the past two years.
Steps Against Melanoma is scheduled for Sept. 9 in Louisville.
To learn more about AIM at Melanoma Foundation, click here.
To donate to Tobi Sample's African New Life fundraiser, click here.
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