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Top 40 Under 40
The Atlantic City Weekly (New Jersey, USA) recently honored forty of the region’s “best and brightest young leaders.” “If they make the rest of us look bad, we can’t blame them. While many of us barely get by with our day-to-day lives, these 40 individuals have found a way to excel - often in the face of adversity. Our inaugural selection of the Atlantic City area’s Top 40 Under 40 proves how rich our region is with talented, successful, charitable and community oriented young people.”
Among them is Scott D. Cannon -- Probation Officer, Superior
Court of New Jersey
The newspaper reports, “Though Scott is considered disabled, he repudiates his disease with a strong work ethic as an exceptional probation officer. Scott has a rare genetic disorder called Von Hippel-Lindau Disease. During his medical treatments, he completed his master’s degree from Villanova University and volunteered at the Bacharach Rehabilitation Center. He received the Donald J. Sykes Award and a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from Rep. Frank LoBiondo. Scott is the only individual in the southern New Jersey region to get the Probation Association of New Jersey’s Presidential Award.”
Scott is the first in his family to have VHL. In 1993, at the age of 28, he was diagnosed with 15 brain tumors, four of which were successfully removed. In 1996 one of the remaining brain tumors had grown quite large. He was sent for embolization in preparation for brain surgery the following day. Embolization is a procedure where a sticky substance like putty is placed carefully in the blood vessels feeding the tumor, in an effort to block them and reduce the amount of blood in the tumor, making it easier for the surgeon to remove the tumor. Just as they completed the embolization, the tumor ruptured, resulting in massive bleeding into his brain. The team whisked him into surgery for emergency removal of the tumor.
Miraculously, Scott survived, but with significant stroke-like damage. Through his own strong will, and with the help and loving support of his family, he learned to walk, talk, and read all over again. His mother, Joan, says, “Scott is no ordinary human being. He claims to be accomplishing all he has out of spite. Whatever the doctors said he wouldn’t or couldn’t do, his goal was to prove that he would and he could.”
Scott completed his Master’s degree, and was accepted as a Probation Officer for the Superior Court in New Jersey. He had a third surgery in 2001, removing another four brain tumors and a large cyst, with no further deficits.
“Five years ago,” Joan says, “a friend asked me, “Don’t you ever ask, why me, why my son?” My answer was, no, because that would mean that I would want this to happen to you or to someone else and that would make me less than human. But it’s more than that. I truly believe that this handsome, determined, strong willed human being is here to be an inspiration for all who see him. My purpose is to be a voice, not only for him, but for all of those who have VHL. Scott is my joy, my miracle.”
Note: The Top 40 Under 40 Review Committee included members of the staff of Atlantic City Weekly and the Greater Atlantic City Jaycees.
As printed in the VHL Family Forum 13:1, April 2005. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org. mystory |
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