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Sacramento State Student's Essay On Father's Brain Cancer Struggles Wins Scholarship

DAVIS (CBS13) — A Sacramento State student's story of her father's struggle with brain cancer won her a scholarship.

Kimberly Schmidt remembers July 25, 2006 as the day her life changed dramatically. That was the day her father had a major seizure caused by an undiscovered tumor on a family camping trip.

"He couldn't control the left side of his body," she said. "His arm, his face was sort of drooping a little bit."

Weeks later, doctors told her dad it would be too risky to remove the tumor from his brain. The only option would be chemotherapy. If the tumor didn't grow any more in the next few years, his chance of survival looked very good.

He survived those next few years, and Bob Schmidt's brain tumor is now stable. It hasn't grown since it was discovered.

"It made me realize, everybody around me, how much they care for me and how much I care for them," Schmidt said.

Bob still suffers up to five seizures a day. His daughters, including Kimberly, have learned to do what Dad used to do—cook, yard work, clean.

Kimberly wrote about it in her essay and the inspiration she gets from her dad.

But Bob says he draws strength from his daughter, too. Together, they live and survive the uncertainty of the disease.

Kimberly beat out hundreds of other applicants. Her essay won her a $2,500 college scholarship. She'll be honored for her essay on Father's Day at the UC Davis Cancer Center where her father is treated.

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