With the death of well-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking last night, he leaves behind a very impactful legacy for the science world and also for people with disabilities.

After battling ALS for 55 years, Hawking passed away at his home in Cambridge.

Kristen Simonson, a science teacher at the Swift Current Comprehensive High School, said the British scientist leaves behind an impact that very few have achieved.

"His brain and the way he looked at science and the world and the possibilities of what applied science could mean were unbelievable," she explained. "I really don't think we've seen a scientist since Albert Einstein that has the same impact on how people look at science."

Simonson added she couldn't imagine a better role model for someone with disabilities than Hawking.

"It is really amazing that despite all of the things he was dealing with in his own personal life that he managed to contribute so much to the public and science as a whole," Simonson said. "I mean lots of people with no disabilities would have trouble contributing that much."

According to the high school teacher, Hawking will be a tough act to follow for anyone or any scientist for that matter.

"We just don't seem to have the same mindsets, work ethic, and extreme focus on what science is and how it works," she said. "He just sort of epitomizes what a true scientist really is. He was very out of the box, he was publishing things that no one else believed in."

Hawking was well known for the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation and also wrote a best-seller called 'A Brief History of Time.'

He was 76 at the time of his death.