A medical student in Connecticut was awarded a scholarship funded with monies raised by family and friends of a six-year-old Fairfield girl with an incurable brain condition.

The student is Ashley Dunbar at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University.

The Reagan Sloane Shanley Scholarship is named for Reagan Shanley who was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at 9 months and had two brain surgeries before she turned 18 months.

She was treated with an alternative surgery called Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy to create a bypass for the cerebrospinal fluid in the head and eliminate the need for a surgically implanted medical device called shunt in her brain.

“Our brave and feisty little girl has inspired us to be a part of the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation. Over the last 4 years, we’ve raised almost $300,000 for the PHF through the generous donations of family and friends,” said Cindy Shanley, Reagan’s mother, and the foundation’s Connecticut State Chapter director.

“We’re committed to putting the funds toward supporting students and researchers in their efforts to find advancements in treating hydrocephalus,” said Shanley.

The recipient Ashley Dunbar, in 2013, was injured in a game for the Yale University women’s ice hockey team and suffered a serious head injury, ending her hockey career. Dunbar, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, graduated from the Lawrenceville School.

At college, she started a support group and did neurological research to understand how the body and brain function in order to help support in the fight against hydrocephalus.

She has received the first $10,000 installment of the three-year scholarship.

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