The Matthew Stanford Robison Memorial is a gravesite marker located in Salt Lake City Cemetery. It was designed by 10 year old Matthew Stanford Robison’s father Ernest Robison. Matthews parents decided to make his gravesite a place of joy and inspiration. The memorial depicts a boy standing up from his wheelchair and raising his left hand toward the sky.
Matthew Stanford Robison was born with disabilities on September 23, 1988 in Salt Lake City, Utah to parents Ernest and Anneke Robison. Deprived of oxygen, he was not expected to live. Because the boy did not get enough oxygen at birth, he was born blind and partially paralyzed. He died on February 21, 1999, at age 10.
The Robisons started a Nonprofit organization called Ability Found in 1993, to help people with disabilities buy equipment. The non-profit helps those with Cerebral palsy, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cancer and traumatic injuries. The foundation sells replicas of the boy’s tombstone memorial.
“Instead of sadness, the statue makes our son Matthew’s grave a place of happiness,” said Ernest Robinson, Matthew’s dad and President of Ability Found. “Many others have found that true also.”
As stated on Matthew’s online memorial: “Confined to the chair most of his young life, he is now free of earthly burdens.”
The tombstone became a place of hope, as opposed to one of sadness and grief.
