Edward Roberts Jr.

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Category: Featured Teen

Published on Monday, 17 August 2015 22:23

Written by Press Release

In honor of Cedars-Sinai being the official medical center of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the hospital invited former patients from their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and their families to a Sunday’s night game against the San Francisco Giants. 

One of their former patients, Edward Roberts Jr., who lives in the Pico-Fairfax area, was selected to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Roberts was born 19 years ago, weighing one pound seven ounces when he arrived at just 24 weeks. Today he is a tap dancer, pianist and athletic trainer as well as a business student at Bethune Cookman University in Florida. He credits his success to Cedars-Sinai’s NICU, part of the Maxine Dunitz Children’s Health Center, and to his parents, who followed their doctor’s advice and made sure that he received extensive early interventions to strengthen his weak muscles. 

Roberts’ parents had no idea that the music therapy and dance therapy he received as a child would lead to a lifetime interest in tap dancing. Roberts says he wants to tell parents of other preemies to “keep the faith and your babies will make it just like I was able to make it.”  

Roberts said that throwing out a ceremonial pitch was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.” His parents were able to stay on the field during the singing of the national anthem. Roberts was joined on the field by Cedars-Sinai philanthropist Maxine Dunitz, and Charles F. Simmons, Jr., MD, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and director of the Division of Neonatology.

Going forward, Cedars-Sinai will be promoting the partnership with the Dodgers by distributing co-branded Dodgers/Cedars-Sinai knit caps to all babies born at the hospital.


Mom         Edward Jr.   Charles Simmons Jr.MD        Dad