University of Minnesota Athletics
Brighter Days Ahead
11/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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Sometimes it takes stepping back for a second and remembering the positive impact athletics can make on somebody's life, a family or even a whole community outside of what happens in the win or loss column.
Nikki Anderson, senior pitcher on the University of Minnesota Gopher softball team out of Brainerd, Minn., was recently connected with Kealy Johnson, a freshmen from Brainerd High School, and the impact the two have already made on each other is a truly heartfelt story.
It all started with an email
Shane Jordan, the head coach of Brainerd Softball, reached out to Anderson along with Coach Jessica Allister and told them about Kealy and her battle with cancer. The Brighter Days Foundation was putting on a special event for Kealy and her family and mentioned that Kealy was a huge Gophers fan. She especially loves softball and volleyball.
She had to miss her volleyball season after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Lymphoma is normally blood cancer but was found in Kealy's bones when she started feeling knee pain in the summer. The pain got so bad that Kealy ended up on crutches by July and did not play softball or attend any volleyball camps the whole summer.
"Immediately I texted Coach Allister and said 'this is something I absolutely want to help with'," Anderson said.
Anderson and the Gophers would go above and beyond in their efforts to help make Oct. 26 a special day for Kealy.
"Nikki has really been at the forefront of all this," Allister said. "It has been fun to see. It is an opportunity for her to connect to her hometown community that has done so much for her."
Before the Brighter Days Foundation event, Anderson along with teammates Jessie Isham and Taylor Chell surprised Kealy at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital.
"I have loved getting to know Kealy," Anderson said. "She is just so positive. I want to help her in any way I can. I love just talking to her."
Help make someone's day a little brighter
That is the motto for the Brighter Days Foundation.
The Foundation's mission is to help seriously and chronically-ill children, ages 0-18, and their families living within the Brainerd Lakes Area of Minnesota by surprising them with meaningful gifts and/or opportunities to brighten their day, according to brighterdaysfoundation.org.
On the evening of Oct. 26 Kealy walked into a room full of family and friends. Also there was Anderson, Coach Allister and Director of Softball Operations Michael Kyllo-Kittleson.
The family received gifts that ranged from gas and food cards to a date night package for the parents and new shoes for her brother to just name a few. Kealy was given gifts such as a trip for her whole family to the NCAA Volleyball Final Four and a signed ball and jersey from the Gopher softball team. Coach Allister told the family that they would be invited to come spend the day like a Gopher athlete on Nov. 21.
"We talk a lot about being the only Div. I school in the state and how we get great support from the state. It is important to give back when we can," Allister said. "There are areas that are important to the people in our program. Areas in which some of our student-athletes lives have been impacted in one way or the other and we want to be in tune with those causes and support them."
The whole event ended with a powerful speech from Kealy's mom, Ann. She talked about some of the struggles that Kealy has gone through but focused on the kindness they have all been shown from family, friends, neighbors and the University.
"Three softball girls came and visited Kealy and Chuck (Kealy's dad) left and went into the family lounge because they were having such a good time," Ann said during her speech.
She ended her speech saying the family would never be able to thank everybody enough, but when meeting the Johnson's it is easy to tell why so many would step forward to help them out.
Meet the Johnsons
For about the next month Anderson was hard at work planning out the special day for Kealy.
"We do not want her to worry about chemo treatments, white blood cell counts, etc. We just want her to have fun," Anderson said before the big day.
Mission accomplished.
From the moment the Johnson's, Kealy with her mother Ann, father Chuck and brother Charlie, walked into the team locker room, the day was filled with nonstop smiles and laughter.
The first big laugh came when some of the Gophers spotted that Kealy was wearing an Iowa State winter cap.
"I told her it would not last long," Chuck said laughing.
He was right. Associate Head Coach Jessica Merchant ran upstairs quick and for the rest of the day, Kealy sported a nice warm Gopher winter cap.
The day started with breakfast in the locker room while watching the 2015 highlight and behind the scenes videos. The whole family was offered the couch but Ann, Chuck and Charlie hung out more in the background as Kealy sat right in the middle of the team, huge smile on her face, watching the videos. The whole thing felt natural which is what Kealy loves about hanging out with the team.
"They actually talk to me," Kealy said. "They do not treat me like just some little girl."
The next stop in the day took the family along with about half the team to TCF Bank Stadium for an on the field football experience to start Kealy's first ever Gopher football game in person.
"I watch all the games on TV," Kealy said. "I was pretty bummed when we lost Floyd."
The on the field experience included walking onto the field through the same tunnel the players do and watching all the warmups and introductions. The experience even got up close and personal when a group picture got in the way of the football team running off the field which brought even more laughter to the fun day.
The start of something special
A Gophers victory and a lunch at Annie's ended the day but it would not have made much difference what the end result was on the scoreboard.
The real winner throughout the whole experience was always Kealy. She never wavered from her positive attitude, always kept a smile on her face and has never doubted the fact that she would be playing sports again.
That attitude has paid off. Just a couple weeks ago, Kealy received the news that she had beaten the cancer.
"It felt great," Kealy said. "I am hoping to be cleared by February or March to be able to play softball this spring."
"I am just so happy for her," Anderson said. "Getting to know her has really given me a new perspective. This could happen to anybody."
The impact that meeting the Johnson's has had on Anderson is easy to see. The friendship they have made is just the start of something special. A connection has been formed that will last a lifetime.
Kealy's attitude about life should serve as a reminder to all of us that no matter how tough times get, there are always brighter days ahead.
