Cancer Warrior, Colt Stanfield

Each week, Fourth and Gold will highlight a cancer warrior that has bravely and fiercely stood strong against childhood cancer. At Fourth and Gold, we want you to see the faces behind our drive and connect with them in a way you wouldn’t have been able to if you didn’t take the stand to demand #MoreThan4! Our precious kids have cancer, but cancer is not who they are.

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Colt Stanfield, aka Colt Man, diagnosed with Retinoblastoma of the left eye at 20 months of age

Current age: 3 (DOB 2/3/15)

Favorite things: Colt man loves Disney’s Toy Story Mickey Mouse! He’s a big Tennesse sports fan, especially the UT Vols and Tennessee Titans Football! He even got to meet Marcus Mariota. BUT… none of those come close to his Boxer Bo that he refers to as his brother 🙂

Favorite foods: Colt is a big fan of Mexican food and pizza!

If you know Colt you know that he: Is so outgoing and loves everyone!! He is the most caring child you’ll ever meet. For such a little boy, he has a large personality and never meets a stranger. No matter what is going on in Colt’s world, he always finds a smile to wear on his face.

What you can’t see here is Colt:

• Has undergone 6 rounds of Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy
• Has undergone eye exams every 2-3 months under sedation
• Has MRI’s every 6 months 
• Has lost vision in his left eye

Colt’s mom, Brittany, on the hardest part of having a child with cancer:  “Remaining strong and never giving up hope. I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason and our son being diagnosed with cancer is just part of our story. Hearing the words your child has cancer is something you can never be prepared for and I feel like you are always worrying if the cancer has come back or if he has developed a new type of cancer. I seem to worry a lot more now then I ever did.“

Brittany on one thing she wishes people knew about Childhood Cancer: “It can happen to anyone and that there’s nothing you did wrong as a parent. I just wish there was more awareness and maybe people would know more of the signs to look for“

Biggest change since diagnosis: “He unfortunately lost what vision he had left in his left eye after going through chemotherapy. So the biggest change in him would be the lack of vision and having to adjust which sometimes causes him to have balance issues.”

While we are PLEASED to announce that Colt has been officially chemo free for 1 year (YAY COLT!!), that doesn’t end the struggle that is childhood cancer. Colt and his loved ones will forever know the monster that is childhood cancer, especially because Colt has officially lost vision in his left eye. Balance and gait challenges are a daily struggle for Colt and he has to work twice as hard as a 3 year old without childhood cancer. 

Colt, like every other 3 year old, deserves a fair chance at life. His family shouldn’t have to spend half of his life so far battling cancer, just to worry about a secondary cancer showing up in the future. Colt deserves more than 4% of all government funding. The lack of money that childhood cancer research receives is devastating. It’s an absolute tragedy. 

Cancer knows no gender, no race, no economic status and it especially doesn’t care of an age. Help support childhood cancer research by donating to research foundations, supporting small businesses that help funding, participating in research walks… doing something is better than doing nothing… and Colt and his friends deserve more than 4.

#MoreThan4 #NotRare #GoingForTheCure

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*Retinoblastoma: ‘An eye cancer that begins in the back of the eye (retina), most commonly in children. Retinoblastoma has few, if any, symptoms at first. It may be noticed if a pupil appears white when light is shined into the eye, sometimes with flash photography. Eyes may appear to be looking in different directions. Treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, and laser therapy’