Folly Beach community rallies around Local resident Dale Antley as he battles brain cancer with a smile
by Jenny Peterson | Current Staff Writer
Nearly every day, 54-year-old Dale Antley checks into “Camp Dale” on Facebook, the unofficial name for his local spot on the sand by the Folly Beach Fishing Pier.
“He tries to make it out there every day and he takes a picture of his foot in the sand and posts it and checks into ‘Camp Dale,’” said Heather Antley, Dale’s wife. “That’s where everybody meets and we always have beach days out there with all the games, horseshoes and all of that. Everyone checks in with him, asking about the surf report or the weather.”
Dale is a member of the surfing and paddleboarding community. Dale and Heather fittingly first met during a chance meeting at former Folly Beach rooftop bar Snapper Jacks. Dale is a fourth generation Charlestonian and Heather moved from North Carolina.
“We both found our way out to Folly Beach and then we met,” Heather said.
They’ve lived on Folly Beach for the past 14 years, making friends wherever they go, especially Heather’s co-workers at beloved local eatery The Lost Dog Café as well as the people they have met managing a property on the beach.
Folly Beach is their community, their home and their support system. Like any family, the support comes in the best of times and the most devastating of times.
So when Dale got the sudden diagnosis of having an incurable form of brain cancer—a grade 4 glioma brain tumor—which was first discovered following a seizure while at Disney World in December 2023, the Folly Beach community rallied to support him in his road to recovery.
A benefit “Do it for Dale,” has been organized for Sunday, March 24 from 2-6 p.m. at The Washout to help cover costs for his brain cancer treatment, which he will undergo at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
Unbeknownst to the Antleys, Dale had a tumor the size of a lime in his brain which was causing pressure and some cognitive symptoms, Heather said.
After spending three days in the intensive care unit in Orlando, Dale was transferred home to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) where he had emergency brain surgery to remove the mass that was diagnosed as a grade 4 glioma brain tumor, a particularly aggressive type of tumor that is highly likely to have spread. He will be starting radiation and chemotherapy in the next month.
“He’s feeling great right now—like almost back to normal, a few side effects here and there,” Heather said. They have been looking online for a few support groups to help prepare them for treatment and offer advice, but Heather says the Folly Beach community has been the largest source of support and strength during this time.
“The Folly family is as close as it can possibly get,” Heather said. “It’s amazing how many people are right there to support us.”
They know the diagnosis—and this particularly nasty type of tumor—doesn’t have the best odds. The Antleys are no strangers to cancer diagnoses, both having lost their mothers to breast cancer.
“It’s something that he will have for the rest of his life. He’ll be doing some form of treatment with ongoing scans and continual treatment,” Heather said.
Heather’s Lost Dog family initiated the fundraiser benefit for the medical bills. A poster created of Dale, in his beach chair on the beach, blue mirrored sunglasses, wind-blown hair—while taking a picture of his foot on the sand like he does almost every day—was quickly created to rally support in the community.
“That drawing (by local artist Chris Kemp) is epic,” Heather said. “His attitude is about as good as it could be—’hope for the best.’ That has always been his temperament, even before this diagnosis. He’s ‘The Dude,’ he’s the man,” she said, referring to the title character in the movie The Big Lebowski.
The good news is that they have a really a really great team at MUSC.
“The radiologist said she has patients that have surpassed their 10-year mark, so it’s just one of those things where you just have to take it one day at a time,” Heather said.
Dale still plans to check into “Camp Dale” every day and draw on the strength from the beach community to get him through treatment and his road to recovery.
“I couldn’t do it without the love from my family and friends and the support of our Folly community,” Dale said. “Folly is the best place on Earth and every day I’m able to wake up here is a great day. I’m just taking it one beach day at a time.”
The benefit for Dale Antley will be held on Sunday, March 24 from 2-6 p.m. at The Washout, 41 Center St. To donate to the couple’s GoFund Me, visit
