Morgan Stout, 18, of East Brunswick, N.J., is our sixth recipient of the John Foy & Associates Strong Arm Leukemia Scholarship. Our scholarship is open nationally to any student at a college or graduate school who has been affected by leukemia.
Morgan has been greatly affected by this disease; her older sister, Tara, died of leukemia at age 10. Morgan and twin sister, Madison, were only 7 at the time. Morgan wrote that grief has been a lifetime struggle for her as she has tried to come to terms with grief and loss.
Interview with Morgan Stout
“Grief is emptiness, loneliness, and heartbreak,” she wrote. “It’s not knowing what to do with yourself, feeling lost and hopeless, and unsure if you’ll ever feel the same as before. Cancer has affected my life by giving me the adversity of grief.”
Morgan wrote movingly about treating Tara like a normal sister would in spite of her disease—running through sprinklers together, playing with Barbie dolls while Tara received treatment. Today, grief takes on a new level as Tara begins to understand what her sister went through.
“Now that I have matured there is an ache in my heart realizing the severity of pain, restriction, and sadness that my sister went through at such a young age,’’ she wrote.
You can read Morgan’s full essay by clicking here.
Morgan is now a first-year student at Syracuse University. Her goal is either to be a nurse or a physician’s assistant to help patients like her sister.
Leukemia is the most common form of childhood cancer for children and teen-agers. Thanks to medical research, it has an 85 percent survival rate, according to the American Cancer Society.
Morgan’s family is still recovering financially from the treatments because her mother, Michelle, quit her job to care of Tara full-time, leaving father, Gregory, to support the family of five. Still, after Tara’s death, the family decided to give back to other patients and their families. The Stouts joined forces with another family to build the AnnMarie Chandlee Tara Stout Foundation. Their fund-raisers support high school scholarships, support the Make-A-Wish Foundation and donate money to families struggling financially in the midst of treatment.
We at John Foy & Associates were very moved by Morgan’s deeply personal essay. As one of Atlanta’s most established personal injury law firms, we are fortunate to have the means to give back. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, the deadline is July 15, 2019. Details are available at this link.
Take a look at Morgans’s essay and video interview. For more information on the scholarship or our firm, please call us at 404-400-4000.