Even after hearing the news that his football career was over, he didn’t give up. He decided to play baseball. Although it didn’t come easy, particularly with a prosthetic knee, he managed to pitch for a highly competitive East Cobb team, winning the final game of a world series in Tampa. Although he never would achieve elite athletic status, he fought to realize his dream of being part of a winning team. Four and half years later, Sam and his family thought he had beaten his cancer demons. And then, more bad news. In the spring of 2007, Sam began to experience fatigue and discomfort in his lungs. The lung scan revealed that a grapefruit-sized mass had taken over his lungs and chest cavity.
While many doctors felt the surgery to remove the tumor was life-threatening, one brave surgeon agreed with Sam to go for the “long ball” and remove the tumor…and a lung. Sam never made it off the operating table. The tumor was too difficult to extricate. But in many ways, the outcome was blessed. Sam never wanted sympathy, nor did he ever act like a sick person. He was good at everything except one thing – being sick.
Sam may be gone, but he will never be forgotten. The Robb family founded The Sam Robb Fund in 2007 to ensure that his spirit and determination will live on to benefit others. So, too, will his mantra, “Fightin’ Till the Last Breath,” continue to inspire children facing cancer. Since its founding, the fund has raised more than $1.5 million to fight childhood cancer.
Its purpose is two-fold.