Courtney Drew

My name is Courtney Drew, and I wanted to share my story of how Shon, the CourtStrong Foundation, and his late wife Courtney have touched my life. I am the mother of two wonderful children, Jaxton (age 7) and Emersyn (age 5). I am married to Rusty Drew, and our little family resides in Southern Indiana in a small town called Huntingburg.

In November of 2023, I began to experience back pain that, by the end of the year, had also moved into my stomach area. I began searching for answers, which led me on a 3 to 4-month journey until I finally discovered what was causing my issues. In March of 2024, our lives were turned upside down when I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer at the age of 36.

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions, doctor appointments, hospital/ER stays, weight loss, health scares, and treatments ever since. I have tried two different chemo regimens, but unfortunately, the cancer progressed with each one. I then switched to a clinical trial at Norton’s in Louisville, Kentucky.

At first, the trial worked, and I achieved approximately 40 percent overall shrinkage of the cancer. But after several rounds of the clinical medicine, my cancer no longer responded to it, and I had back-to-back scans that showed progression. This would have been around the beginning of February 2025.

My husband and I started researching different clinical trials around the United States that I might qualify for. We found several that sounded like a good fit for me at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute in Nashville, TN. We went and screened for them, and then I was put on a waiting list due to there not being any spots open at the time. While I waited for a phone call from them saying I could begin the trial, I went back to Norton’s and did two rounds of chemo.

After about a month on the waiting list, Sarah Cannon called, and I was accepted into one of their trials. I will begin treatment with them at the end of April.

Now, I have to back up a little and explain how we came into contact with Shon. After my initial diagnosis in March of 2024, my husband and I decided to cancel our planned family vacation to the beach in June of that year. Like most kids, ours were excited to go to the beach and were really bummed when they learned we would not be going. I was really struggling with “mom guilt” over the kids missing out on something they had been looking forward to for a while—because of me.

Fast forward to the beginning of June: my husband received a call from an unknown number and answered it. It was Shon. He explained who he was and how he started the CourtStrong Foundation in memory of his late wife, Courtney. Shon and my husband spoke for a little while and realized how similar their wives’ stories were.

Shon explained that someone had nominated our family to be a beneficiary of his foundation and that he would like to help us go on vacation. He told us that his foundation had a check waiting for us if we wanted to book a vacation somewhere. Through his wife’s battle with cancer, he understands how important making memories is—and that’s part of the foundation’s mission.

My husband and I debated whether we should still go, simply because we didn’t think anything would still be available. Wouldn’t you know it—when we checked, the exact same condo we had canceled a few months earlier happened to have one week of availability at the end of June. A few weeks later, our family found ourselves making memories that will last a lifetime on vacation at the beach.

We were also able to get professional family pictures taken on the beach, which meant the world to me.

We are so grateful for Shon and the CourtStrong Foundation. More importantly, we are grateful for his late wife, Courtney, as I firmly believe she was the one pulling the strings to make this all come together. As I continue my journey of fighting this nasty disease, it’s people like Shon, his foundation, and his late wife that make this journey bearable.

From the bottom of mine and my family’s hearts—thank you!

P.S. The family pictures are from the vacation that was made possible by the CourtStrong Foundation. The picture of me wearing an orange top and lying in a hospital bed is from my first chemo treatment. The picture collage shows a six-month difference (from right to left), from chemo to the far-left photo where I was on a clinical trial at Norton’s and had gained back a lot of the weight I lost. The indoor photo with plants in the background is a current picture of me at Sarah Cannon Hospital in Nashville, where I will begin another clinical trial at the end of April.

- Courtney Drew

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