OAKLAND (CBS 5) – In a cramped dorm room at U.C. Riverside, Eddie Ashley is changing lives. Not just his, but his family’s.

“A lot of people in my family have only made it to high school,” said Eddie. “I feel like I’m breaking a barrier.”

Food and a bed are not things Eddie always had growing up.

He spent a lot of his childhood at Highland Hospital in Oakland while his mom was treated for lupus, and later, kidney failure.

“I knew him from the time he was a baby,” said Dr. Colin Feeney. “He would bring a book and she was very strong about, ‘Eddie you need to read this you need to read that.’”

Dr. Colin Feeney has treated countless patients over the years, but few made the kind of impression Eddie’s mom did- children in tow, totally dedicated.

“She was everything in their life,” said Dr. Feeney. “She did everything for them, so what was going to happen when she was gone? Who was going to take care of them?”

Dr. Feeney was the one who had to tell Eddie and his two little sisters when their mom was dying.

“We went into the room and we saw our mom,” recalled Eddie. “Even when she looked so sad and almost dead, she was still smiling. And that made me realize, my mom was the strongest woman I knew.”

At Oakland Technical High, Eddie never talked about what was going on, moving from relative to relative.

“One of the things I worried about was food, and a place to stay, and if there would be enough room for me to sleep somewhere,” said Eddie.

“He didn’t have a place to study. He didn’t have anyone to talk to. He was living in an apartment with ten people,” said Shria Tomlinson

Eventually he and his little sisters were separated.

But at Oakland Tech, he plugged away, going to see some teachers before school to make sure he stayed on track.

“When I’m grading his tests, I’m rooting for him and I hate to admit this, extra hard,” said Dori Chai. “Because I know how much he puts into it.”

It was his mother’s words that got him through.

“’You need to be a man, take care of your sisters, and go to college,’” Eddie recalled her saying.

By hanging in there, Eddie Ashley ended up inspiring people at school.

“He’s been my little hope, that things will be ok, you know,” said Dori Chai.

At the hospital, his baby picture sits on the shelf above Dr. Feeney’s desk.

“Now that I’m graduating high school and going to college,” said Eddie. “I’m doing it mom, and you don’t have to worry.”

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