Zack Story 

In December of 2023, Zack complained about numbness on the right side of his face and his right ear being muffled. The family had recently gotten over a cold, and they figured it was residual from that. In January of 2024, when his symptoms hadn’t improved, he saw his primary care physician and then an ear nose and throat doctor. They saw nothing wrong and referred him to a neurologist. The soonest available neurology appointment was in September of 2024. His parents asked the primary care physician to continue looking for a sooner appointment. They started making appointments all over Georgia and Florida. The first available ended up being April 10, 2024 in Macon, GA. The neurologist wasn’t sure what was going on with Zack; she said we needed to get him an MRI, but those can be days or weeks to get scheduled. They waited while she called radiology across the street. Miraculously, every single appointment that day had been cancelled, so they could see them immediately. Zack spent the next hour in the MRI. We were told that we would get results in 1-2 days. While Zack was getting dressed, the neurologist walked into the room and told them that Zack has a tumor. That was the point in time when the Earth fell out from beneath their feet. She put in a referral to a neurosurgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They got in the car with their minds in a whirlwind knowing that they would need to go to Atlanta soon for more answers. Before they even had left the parking garage in Macon, they received a call to see if we could come to Atlanta that same day, so they started driving north. Zack was admitted that night so they could get an extensive MRI that took several hours. They were sent home the next day with an appointment to return for biopsy on April 23, 2024. The surgery that day took 2 hours and 19 minutes. The doctors later gave them a DIPG diagnosis and before that day, Zack and his family had never heard of DIPG. Zack completed 30 rounds of photon radiation and then spent the next year on an immunotherapy trial drug coupled with chemotherapy pills. The chemotherapy pills were taken for 5 days. He had appointments in Atlanta every 28 days to complete bloodwork and check in with his doctors to see if he could continue treatment.

Other than some minor issues with his balance, Zack didn’t really experience any changes over the next year. Over the summer of 2025, the tumor had started to affect his balance more and was causing issues with his eyes. An MRI now showed that the tumor was spreading. Zack then completed 10 additional rounds of radiation covering his entire brain and spine. That radiation gave Zack a few months of stability before things started affecting his balance and vision. His mom and dad then researched  CAR-T treatments and the only facility that accepted Zack was in Seattle, WA. In September of 2025 they went to Atlanta for his Ommaya surgery and to Seattle for apheresis. They spent the entire month of November of 2025 in Seattle for CAR-T treatments and then went to Seattle for 4 days every three weeks for these CAR-T infusions. By January of 2026, Zack could no longer walk on his own. In February of 2026 Zack lost his vision. By late February they decided to stop the CAR-T infusions because of the progression. Zack and his family are now focusing on enjoying every day and are striving to choose joy over despair. His dad, Richard shares that, "Our blessing is that Zack continues to feel good (no nausea and no pain) and stays positive. We are sharing our story to spread awareness." ​

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Zack is the true epitome of strength, courage and grace and the Archer Foundation is proud to join their family in their hope for more good days together.