A ‘comeback’ after brain tumor will see State College woman rappelling down Beaver Stadium

If someone had told Susie Solo a year ago that she’d be rappelling from Beaver Stadium, the 53-year-old who has a lifetime fear of heights would have said they’re crazy.

But after a neurological disease diagnosis, the discovery of a brain tumor, a craniotomy and returning to work six weeks later tumor-free, Solo said there’s nothing she can’t do.

During the pandemic, Solo tested positive for a neurological disease called adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) that runs in her family, and her doctor scheduled her for an MRI. But Solo wasn’t planning to go to her appointment because she heard the disease affects women’s walking and balance only.

Solo forgot to cancel the MRI and went anyway. A few days later, the doctor told her she had a 4-centimeter tumor between her frontal lobes, and soon she was talking with a doctor at Johns Hopkins about next steps.

She thought the procedure to remove the tumor would be a simpler one through her nose, but after six months and another MRI, her tumor had grown 2 millimeters — just enough to call for a full craniotomy.

Before her first scheduled procedure, Solo tested positive for COVID and had to wait even longer to undergo her surgery.

After an 11-hour craniotomy, no trace of the tumor was left, and Solo was back at work as an adviser for Penn State’s College of Engineering six weeks later. As soon as she got back to work, she heard about Centre County United Way’s Over The Edge fundraiser and got thinking.

“If I can get a brain tumor removed, I can rappel over Beaver Stadium,” Solo said. “There is nothing this girl cannot do — nothing.”

How the fundraiser works

Centre County United Way is partnering with Over The Edge, a special events company that works with nonprofits to raise money by having people pay to rappel down buildings. It’s not new to Happy Valley — dozens of people rappelled down the Fraser Centre in downtown State College in 2018 and 2019 to raise money for Interfaith Human Services and FaithCentre.

But the location of this event makes it unique. The first 107 people to raise $1,500 will secure a spot to rappel down Beaver Stadium on May 19. As of Friday, five teams and 12 lone participants have reached the fundraising minimum, but 50 people in total have signed up to raise the money.

Those interested can still register through an Over The Edge webpage.

As of Friday, the campaign has raised 25% of its $170,000 goal. There have been 456 contributors, and there are 53 days left to donate through its website.

Renata Engel, Penn State’s campaign chair for fundraising for Centre County United Way, said the United Way wanted to choose a fundraiser that would engage a broad community and garner support for the mission of fighting for the community’s financial stability, education and health.

Engel is raising money to rappel herself, and said she reads participants’ campaign stories because she enjoys seeing the engagement from different community members.

“I have to say, there are some of them that just kind of just hit you,” Engel said. “They’re committed to the purpose in a way that enables them to step outside of their comfort zone.”

Celebrating life at Beaver Stadium

Solo, who called this her “big comeback,” is celebrating six months tumor-free. She said she’s lost her sense of smell and some taste but hasn’t experienced any other dangerous side effects, which she’s grateful for.

With the help of her wide network of friends across the country, Solo reached her $1,500 in just three days and was one of the first to do so.

Chris Solo, Susie’s husband, was in the military for 21 years, and they made lasting connections everywhere they went. Their many friends sent their support after Susie’s surgery, and some are even flying to State College to see her rappel in person.

Grateful for the people who have her back, Susie said she plans to write her supporters’ names on her forearms.

“As I go over the edge, I can either thank them, or I can curse at them, whichever the mood is,” Susie said with a laugh.

Out of all of her supporters, Susie said her husband has been the one by her side throughout her entire journey, and she knows she’ll feel very connected to him on the day she goes over the edge.

“Nothing was too much to ask of him through this whole thing,” Susie said. “Whether it was going to Johns Hopkins for appointments or figuring out what I needed to eat or getting me to my appointments at 5 a.m. in Baltimore, nothing was a trouble for him.”

Chris said he’ll be in the Beaver Stadium parking lot where he and their friends will “tailgate” and watch Susie conquer yet another obstacle.

“I’ve seen her do other things that I thought were just extremely brave, and she cares a lot about her friends and family,” Chris said. “She is extremely loyal to her friends.”

Throughout the medical journey, Chris said Susie maintained her positive attitude and treated her surgery as any other procedure, but the news of her rappelling from Beaver Stadium caught him by surprise.

“I think people are probably saying, ‘Wow, I can’t believe she’s doing this.’ And the same people are probably saying, ‘Yep, I can totally believe that Susie’s gonna do this, because it’s so crazy,” Chris said.

Susie said she’s looking forward to supporting Centre County United Way again after participating in Trash to Treasure, when community members could buy items at Beaver Stadium that students had left behind. But she’s most looking forward to proving she can truly do anything she sets her mind to.

“This is my, ‘I made it.’ This is my big day of, ‘I survived. I’m a warrior. I made it,’” Susie said. “And this is exciting, and life is gonna go on, but it’s gonna stay exciting.”

To find more information about Over The Edge, visit overtheedgeglobal.com.

This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 8:30 AM.