“When you die, that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live.” -Stuart Scott
Beloved ESPN commentator, Stuart Scott, died on January 4, 2015, but he left a strong legacy of kindness, generosity, and excellence. Something that his daughters, Taelor and Sydni Scott embody through their work.
Recently, the both penned a piece commemorating their father’s life, published on Essence.com.
A Message from Taelor:
As his oldest daughter, my dad and I shared a love of the art of storytelling. From my journey with my dad’s illness, I know that while cancer creates vulnerability, we can all lean into our collective vulnerability to find our collective strength. We share these words of comfort and hope from our dad with anyone who has lost a parent or loved one to this disease:
“When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live.”
A Message From Sydni:
As his youngest daughter, I know our dad’s story didn’t end the day he died. My journey without our dad continues with grief as an unwelcomed partner along the way. At times, grief mangles my sight and clouds my understanding of hope. But I have also been lucky enough to be drawn back from that chasm, reminded by the people I love of the implicit agreement I’m a part of. With grief still by my side, nevertheless, I can – and must – try to make life better for those who still have a chance to keep their families and communities whole, and we can all be a part of that process.
For us, it has meant making the most of the precious time we have been given. Our plan is to tackle health disparities in cancer research and treatment through a partnership with the V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization our dad was associated with long before his diagnosis. Since his passing, the V Foundation started the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund to address the inequities in cancer, such as the overall higher death rate for different types of cancer and the underrepresentation in clinical trials, which find, test and validate effective treatments for Black and Brown people. The Stuart Scott Fund also supports minority cancer researchers that are underrepresented in the cancer research workforce.
With her new short film, Mod Squad & The Spectacular Paper Caper, the eldest Scott child, Taelor, aimed to not only immortalize the memory of her father’s first family, she drew from the tales he told about his childhood and wrote a film based on