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John Foy & Associates, one of Atlanta’s most established personal injury law firms, is proud to announce the 2016 winner of its annual “Strong Arm” Leukemia Scholarship.
Manuel Sandoval, 18, a Clovis, CA, resident was awarded the 2016 “Strong Arm” Leukemia Scholarship. Manuel will use the $1,000 as an incoming freshman at University of California Los Angeles. He plans to major in biochemistry in pursuit of his dream to be a doctor and return to his Central Valley home and pay back the community that helped him survive childhood leukemia.
We are excited and proud to be able to support such a promising young individual.
Interview with Manuel Sandoval
Manuel has a stunning story of survival. At one year and 8 months old, he was diagnosed with leukemia in his little town in Mexico. The medical center, miles from his village, told his parents to take him home to die. Instead, two cousins from the United States who were visiting stepped in and drove him to a children’s hospital in Madera, CA, for treatment. Along the way, one cousin cradled him for fear he would die before he reached the hospital. Once there, doctors said his kidneys were failing and that he had bronchitis. Both conditions were probably fatal, they said. Instead, this little baby defied the odds and survived.
Manuel went on to graduate at the top .02 percent of his class at Clovis High School and has already started a summer program at the very competitive, UCLA, which only accepts 16 percent of applicants.
His parents, Jose and Dolores Sandoval, eventually left their home and five children to care for Manuel in this country. They taught him a very important lesson that endures today: “My illness, while gone, has left scars that remind me that hard situations are everywhere, but we must not give up.”
Jose Sandoval, a field worker, died in September 2015 leaving his wife to care for their three younger children alone. Dolores, says Manuel, is the single most influential person in his life.
Applicants for this scholarship must write a 500- to 1,000-word essay on one of three topics. Manuel chose to answer: “How has living with your or your loved one’s leukemia affected your education?”
Leukemia, he wrote, “made me a warrior who will stop at nothing to achieve my dreams and inspire others along the way.”
You may read his full essay here.
Our firm is proud to support Manuel in his academic pursuits and we congratulate him on his achievements and his health.
Our firm founder, John Foy, started this scholarship in 2015 to raise awareness for this deadly disease. He opened our firm John Foy & Associates in 1999 to provide protection and compensation for victims of another’s negligence. Today, with almost 30 attorneys and 70 paralegals, investigators and other support staffs, we are one of Atlanta’s most recognizable and respected personal injury law firms.
For more information on the scholarship or John Foy & Associates, contact Jody Davis, our Director of Marketing, at jdavis@johnfoy.com.
