#SoMuchHope: The Callyn Stanley Story
9/30/2021
When former Kansas University teammates/roommates Kim Stanley and head women’s volleyball coach Sara Matthews reminisced on old times and caught up on their adult lives, Callyn Stanley couldn’t be far from the conversation.
Callyn is Kim’s youngest daughter who was diagnosed at the age of two in September 2014 with retinoblastoma. Retinoblastoma is a very rare cancer of the retina, the light-detecting tissue on the inside back of the eye. It is the most common malignant cancer of the eye in children and is usually diagnosed before a child reaches the age of three.
Once Matthews got news of this, she immediately sprang into help mode. Matthews and Kim reconnected in Philadelphia, where Callyn was getting treatment at Wills Eye Hospital four times a year since the initial diagnosis. Matthews and her 2019 squad made the trip 55 minutes north from Newark to the hotel the Stanley’s stayed at to meet with and visit Callyn before her routine appointment. After meeting the team and heading to the appointment, the Stanley’s get the news that Callyn’s cancer...
WAS IN REMISSION!!
Callyn, Taylor (sister) and Kim Stanley (mother) w/members of the 2019 Volleyball Team
Pediatric cancer is a cause close to my heart for a number of reasons. Children like Callyn are true warriors. What they have endured in their short life is more than many adults. They emit bravery, strength, courage and most importantly...HOPE!Sara Matthews, Head Women's Volleyball Coach
Fast forward two years to September 2021 - the ninth month of the year being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Matthews wanted to help bring awareness this season. Sept. 9 was circled on their schedule as the team headed to Stanley’s home state of Kansas. As part of the KU Invitational, their head-to-head match was dubbed “Block Childhood Cancer Night” where Callyn was in attendance and had the ceremonial first serve. Regardless of the final score, Callyn was the real winner as she was presented with a gold ball, signed by both Blue Hen and Jayhawk student-athletes and coaching staffs.
Since her daughter’s diagnosis, Kim has made it her mission to be as involved as possible. Enter Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer, a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 2010 out of the necessity to raise awareness and funding for childhood cancer. Kim is currently the Vice President/Director of Development and is on the Executive Board of Directors. In 2017, the Stanley’s held the inaugural Callyn’s Course for Hope as a charity golf tournament to raise money for the nonprofit. The family held its fifth annual golf tournament earlier this month.
As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month concludes today, Matthews is excited to say that Callyn’s cancer is still in remission and continues to have #SoMuchHope as she looks forward to celebrating her 10th birthday next month.
Our program is grateful to have Callyn, her sister Taylor and parents Kim and Mike as part of our extended family. They have shown us what HOPE and LOVE looks like.Sara Matthews, Head Women's Volleyball Coach
(L-R) Kim Stanley (mom), Callyn, Sara Matthews, Taylor (sister)
