Sean Lewis Robins was born in Detroit in 1983 to his parents, Amy and Mitchell. Seany grew up as the middle child with older brother, Alexander, and little sister, Emily. At age 7, Sean moved with his family to San Diego. There he grew older and stronger, excelling at outdoor sports and flourishing in the California sun.

Later Sean attended Francis Parker for both middle and high school, where he spent his days growing and learning as a happy, successful, healthy teenager. Sean was even placed on the school’s Varsity Baseball team as a freshman. He played 2nd base until the middle of his sophomore year when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma (a rare bone cancer). Sean fought valiantly and went into remission. It was at this time Sean discovered a new passion: acting. Although he began his drama career later than many of his peers, Seany was a natural and excelled on the stage. In fact, when Sean was 18 years old, he won a lead role, playing Daddy Warbucks in a local theatre production of "Annie."

Perhaps Sean’s biggest role was that of hero to his family. This was particularly when, in 2002, Sean graduated with his class in spite of a year filled with chemotherapy, radiation, and all the difficulties associated with childhood cancer. And no one was more proud than Sean and his family when he was accepted into the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at the prestigious Northwestern University in Chicago. Sadly, Sean enrolled in classes twice, but was never able to attend.

It was a long, difficult struggle for Sean. After being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma at 16, Seany fought for his life for the next seven years. Although the statistics were bleak for his prognosis, he never lost his will to live or the belief that he would survive. He kept a positive outlook and went on with his life, becoming a guide and leader to other teens fighting cancer. Sean endured countless treatments and procedures, many of which had never before been used by someone with Ewing's. With his seemingly endless optimism, Sean believed each experimental treatment or procedure would be “the one.” This often led him to recite phrases such as “Third time's a charm!” and “When nothing is certain, everything is possible.”

Sean was a wise individual long before and during his cancer. His spirit ran deep and he had a taste for proverbial literary quotes from some of the greatest minds of the human age. His favorite was the American intellectual Ralph Waldo Emerson. These poignant truths expressed what Seany stood for and acted as his steed, carrying him through the battle for his life. True to his rich character, he deeply believed Emerson’s quote, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

He was a pioneer who fought until his final hour for his own life and the hopes of inspiring an image of strength in all humans who suffer through cancer. In Seany’s notebook he wrote down this quote by Kahlil Gibran: “Birth and Death are the two noblest expressions of bravery.” We can only ask to borrow some of Seany’s strength and wisdom when we too slip into the dying of the light. He will be remembered and loved through his mission, which The Seany Foundation is carrying out. We carry his flame of hope and empathy, for those who suffer, that mere death cannot extinguish.