Physician Life Care Planning consistently strives to make life easier for people recovering – or learning to live with – catastrophic illnesses and injuries. We wanted to extend our outreach to students intent on pursuing their academic goals despite the challenges their health introduced into their lives.
This year, the team wants to celebrate Stuart Cash. Cash’s fight to overcome a life-changing health crisis saw him achieve his goal of playing college baseball despite significant trauma. Now, he intends to pursue a degree at Grinnell College while making a name for himself as an athlete.
Physician Life Care Planning hopes the award it can dedicate toward Cash’s education makes it easier for him to keep hitting home runs.
Building on a Lifelong Passion for Baseball
If there’s been one consistent thing in Cash’s life, it’s been his love for baseball. He long dreamed of playing baseball in college and worked hard to impress recruiters throughout his high school career. His interest in the sport wasn’t restricted to practice and games, though.
Cash also reports serving as a youth baseball coach. He also spent his free hours doing volunteer work for his local Little League and coaching teams at summer camps. His total investment in the practice made his subsequent injury – and recovery – all the more life-changing.
Addressing the Shock of Serious Injuries
Cash suffered a catastrophic injury to his kidney during a high school baseball game. The subsequent fallout knocked him out of the rest of the season and forced him to undergo extreme measures to remaster his body. When he found himself able to return to school again, he was underweight and weaker than he claims an athlete should be.
Physician Life Care Planning understands how devastating catastrophic accidents can be, especially when they impact the values a person builds their life around. The team recognizes how devastating it can be to hear that you can’t go back to doing the things you love right away and applauds Cash for rolling with the punches.
Persevering Despite Obstacles
Cash did not let his injury rob him of his chance to pursue a position on a college baseball team. While he returned from injury treatment in poor condition, he threw himself back into his physical development, playing basketball while preparing for the coming baseball season.
While he originally missed a chance to impress recruiters, Cash took it upon himself to make himself as visible as possible on the field. He caught the eye of over 20 recruiters, far surpassing his goals. In doing so, he received an offer to play for Grinnell College’s baseball team.
Taking Inspiration From the GOAT
When asked what – or who – drives him to succeed, Cash is quick to praise his family and friends. However, he makes a special note about Michael Jordan in his scholarship questionnaire. Cash reports that after watching Space Jam for the first time, he found himself looking to the athlete for inspiration.
Michael Jordan may be best known for his basketball career, but he also found his footing in baseball’s minor leagues.
Looking Toward the Future
Cash has since started his sophomore year at Grinnell College, where he intends to pursue a degree in biology or biochemistry, though he’s yet to formally settle on a major. He reports that he’s still masterfully balancing his time between his studies and college baseball practice, although he’s somewhat short of sleep.
After graduation, Cash hopes to either attend medical school or complete a residency with the military. Should he pursue a military residency, he’ll still have a chance to play baseball with the US Military Allstars or teams from different branches.
Physician Life Care Planning hopes that the scholarship Cash receives will alleviate some of his stress and make it easier for him to manage his health, academics, and baseball practice. We applaud his drive and hope young people dealing with catastrophic injuries can look to him as an example of how a person can retake control of their lives after an accident.
What You Need to Know About Physician Life Care Planning’s Scholarship
At Physician Life Care Planning, we believe that life care planning requires dedication, compassion, and forethought. We want to make it as easy as possible for anyone impacted by chronic illnesses or catastrophic injuries to resume as normal a life as possible. It’s with that goal in mind that we encourage injured students to apply for our financial support.
Our goal in offering this scholarship award is to reduce the psychological and financial pain a student undergoes while pursuing their academic goals.
This aligns with our business’s core values, which see our team encourage anyone impacted by chronic illnesses or catastrophic injuries to achieve the highest level of function possible.
Students who want to benefit from the team’s support may complete scholarship essays going into detail about a catastrophic condition that’s impacted their life goals. Essays should remain between 500 and 1,000 words and tell us about:
- What happened to the applicant
- What medical condition an applicant is learning to live with
- What challenges and disabilities a condition has introduced into the applicant’s life
- What environment or support systems have helped the applicant overcome the worst of their condition
- What medical services, equipment, and/or rehabilitative programs have improved the applicant’s quality of life
Three Cheers for Stuart Cash
The team with Physician Life Care Planning wants to congratulate Cash on preserving beyond the limitations of his kidney injury. We found his scholarship essay moving as a testament to dedication and the power of dreams. We hope this scholarship will make it easier for Cash to balance the demands of his college career with his success on the baseball diamond.
Physician Life Care Planning invites students to follow in Cash’s footsteps in the years to come. Anyone interested in applying for next year’s scholarship can visit its terms and conditions page to learn more about its eligibility criteria.