Fly High: Layne leaves behind an inspired community after passing
Published 2:46 pm Friday, May 16, 2025
Jacob Layne alongside his family. (NICOLE SULLIVAN PIKE | CONTRIBUTED)
The funeral procession for Jacob Layne through Clanton that had dozens of cars and motorcycles in it. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)
The Paint the Town Green event on May 9 at Clanton Corner Park to remember Jacob Layne. (NICOLE SULLIVAN PIKE | CONTRIBUTED)
Jacob Layne with his family after one of his favorite activities, karate. (NICOLE SULLIVAN PIKE | CONTRIBUTED)
Dozens of motorcycles participated in the funeral procession for Jacob Layne to Jemison First Baptist Church on May 14. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)
The crowd gathered at Ellison Memorial Funeral Home as Jacob Layne is laid inside the hearse. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)
Photos and mementos of Jacob Layne at Jemison First Baptist Church during his visitation. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)
The funeral procession through Clanton that had dozens of cars and motorcycles in it. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)
Jacob Layne leaves behind an inspired generation in Chilton County by way of his courageous fight against cancer. (NICOLE SULLIVAN PIKE | CONTRIBUTED)
The hearse carrying Jacob Layne to his final resting place at Jemison First Baptist Church. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor
“He had a heart of gold, and he would do anything for anybody.”
Loss for any small community is tough to take, but when it is an 11-year-old boy who touched so many lives during his courageous fight against cancer, it hits a bit harder for the community. Jacob Logan Layne was cherished by many and served as a beacon of strength in Chilton County for months, and his life was celebrated by those he inspired following his passing on May 8.
Layne was born on May 30, 2013 to DJ Layne and Nicole Sullivan Pike, and he grew up into a bright, determined and loving young boy who had a gentle and goofy personality. He loved math and science, but he made it clear he did not like reading. He enjoyed “his fun time” at his school’s aftercare program, playing video games, building Legos, riding bikes, swimming, playing basketball and doing karate. Just being a kid.
Last July, Pike noticed Layne was losing weight and took him to the doctor. After testing, doctors found a 10-centimeter mass on his liver. The young boy’s cancer fight began a few days later when the family met with the oncology department at Children’s of Alabama hospital in Birmingham.
Doctors removed the mass on his liver and began treatments at the end of August every other week until November. New scans in November showed the cancer had spread to Layne’s lungs, and more operations were needed to get those.
“We decided to wait until after Christmas to do that surgery because I wanted him to enjoy Christmas,” Pike said.
The spots on Layne’s lungs were removed in January, and he bounded back well from the operations with clear scans in January. Treatments continued every other week until the next round of scans in April. On April 10, the scans showed several spots back on his liver and his lungs, and a new approach was needed.
“We navigated through finding a clinical trial, which was kind of our last resort because he was not a candidate for a transplant,” Pike said.
The family connected with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and on April 14, they traveled there for a week to conduct biopsies, trails and scans on Layne. New treatment began on April 25, and he did well with it. The family had events coming up later in May for the soon to be 12-year-old boy including the Paint the Town Green event the community organized for him, a birthday party with his stepbrother and his sister’s graduation. So, the hospital worked with them to be able to have him back for those events.
“He was working so hard … He was fighting,” Pike said. “He was very positive, and he always said ‘He had this.’ Even the times he did not feel like getting up he still got up, still played his video games and with his friends that would come over. He was a happy kid … He did not give up at all.”
When they got back to Alabama, Layne developed a fever and Children’s in Birmingham did not find anything from their tests. Layne and his family attended the Strike Out Cancer Survivor Breakfast on May 3 before he spiked another fever. They went back to the hospital two more times within the next few days because his fever reached as high as 105 degrees.
The decision was made to transport Layne to St. Jude’s, but his condition grew worse there. Doctors said Layne’s body was in overload mode and fighting the cancer too hard leading to it overworking. Being a true fighter to the end.
Layne passed away on May 8 surrounded by family after a long and courageous battle with fibrolamellar carcinoma. The following day was the Paint the Town Green event that was organized by the community to support Layne and his family. The event turned into a remembrance, but residents and supporters in green shirts filled downtown Clanton at Clanton Corner Park to honor the late young boy.
Pike said she never knew her family had supporters or followers so close until they needed their community the most, and they quickly found out how many people around them really care. The Chilton County community showed an outpouring of support for Layne and his family during their fight, and it touched the hearts of the family while also offering them a distraction during Layne’s fight.
“It touched Jake … It is an honor to have such a big community that rooted on for our boy through this fight he fought,” Pike said.
The amount of support for the family by the community after Layne’s passing was astounding. Due to the large amount of interest in people wanting to participate in the procession for Layne, Ellison Memorial Funeral Home organized an extended procession on May 14. The procession route left Ellison Memorial Funeral Home on Lay Dam Road and traveled through Clanton to U.S. Highway 31 where it went to Jemison First Baptist Church for Layne’s final visitation. Old muscle cars, motorcycles, friends, family and supporters all followed in the procession behind the hearse carrying Layne to his final resting spot. People lined the streets on portions of the procession route to show their respects for the young boy. Layne was laid to rest the following day at the church.
“He always tried to make people laugh, especially his mom and sisters, when we were having a bad day he would aggravate the mess out of us until we were laughing,” Pike said. “He was a happy kid, and he was a very strong fighter.”
