April 1, 2004
Two of Wesley Brown’s most prized possessions were a football autographed with a note of encouragement from University of South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz and a baseball signed by the USC baseball team after their return from the College World Series championship game.
Athletes from the Gamecock football team, as part of USC’s Team Gamecocks along with Cocky and the USC cheerleaders on Friday, April 9 at 1:00 p.m. for a visit that includes autograph sessions, room visits and photos. Chick Fil A restaurants will provide snacks for the children.
A star athlete who graduated from Spring Valley High School in 1997 and USC in 2001, Brown was diagnosed with leukemia in June 2002. In his memory, his family (father, Wayne, mother, Beth and younger brother, Taylor) and his girlfriend, Rebecca Payne wanted to create an annual event for the children at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.
“Like most little boys, Wes loved sports and began playing baseball at five,” said Wayne Brown. “When Wes was nine, he was so big that I overheard another parent remark that he looked big enough to have driven himself to the game. Wes was talented enough that we thought he would go on to play college football,” he added.
After multiple hospitalizations at Palmetto Health Baptist and a stem cell transplant at Duke University Hospital in Aug. 2002, Wes died in Jan. 2003. He had begun working with South Carolina Bank & Trust in late summer 2001 and quickly distinguished himself as a management associate in the Commercial Loan Administration Dept. The South Carolina Bankers School renamed its scholarship fund in his honor. While at USC, Wes Brown worked in Dr. Palms’ office for three years and was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital was the first children’s hospital in South Carolina. A major pediatric referral center for children from all 46 counties in South Carolina, Children’s Hospital treats more than 82,000 children each year.
