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Like so many 12-year-olds, Stanley Edwards had a dream:  his dream was to attend college.  Unlike many 12-year-olds, achieving his dream was complicated by the battle he was fighting against brain cancer. 

Stanley, a gifted student and promising athlete who excelled in basketball, football and golf, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 12.  He was in 7th grade. Due to location of his tumor, the surgery to remove it resulted in the onset of learning disabilities as well as paralysis of his right arm and leg, making school more difficult and forever preventing him from participating in the many sports he loved.

Despite these unthinkable obstacles, Stanley persevered towards his dream.  After seeing the movie “Rudy,” the true story of a young man who beat insurmountable odds to attend and play football at Notre Dame University, Stanley resolved that he would not only attend college, but that he would attend Notre Dame.

Unexpectedly, in 2001 the Edwards family learned that Stanley’s tumor had returned.  After enduring learning disabilities, permanent paralysis, chemotherapy, intense physical, occupational and speech therapy, and the eventual loss of his sight, Stanley passed away in January of 2002 at the age of 14.  He was a freshman at Henderson High School.  But more than what he had lost, his family remembers what he managed to courageously sustain:  his wit and sense of humor, his hope and faith, his strength and dignity, his zest for life, and his ability to inspire all who met him.  And of course, they remember his dream.

Stanley’s family created STANLEY’S DREAM to continue his legacy, making his unfulfilled dream to attend college a reality for other students. STANLEY’S DREAM provides two college scholarships to graduating seniors and supports childhood brain cancer research by awarding research grants to hospitals.

To learn more about Stanley’s life and legacy, visit www.stanleyaustinedwards.org

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Press Release:
Stanley's Dream Makes $10K Grant to CHOP for Pediatric Brain Cancer Research