Kendal Rider was a star athlete at Lafayette Central Catholic School in Indiana until she was diagnosed with a rare pre-cancerous pancreatic tumor.
“At 14, I prepared to die,” Kendal says, “and it’s just like ever since then, I’ve pushed myself even harder in everything that I do and everything has a purpose.”
Kendal underwent five intensive surgeries, but she still thought about sports.
“I told myself every single day, I need to do this so that I can be back out there,” she says. “They’re like, ‘Today, we’re gonna step on to three steps,’ and I was like, ‘Well, can I go four?’ I need to push myself. I am going to get back out there.”
That determination through recovery took Kendal from not knowing if she’d walk again to a two-sport collegiate athlete, committing to play both basketball and softball at Manchester University next fall.
Kendal’s story is so inspiring she’s receiving the Thomas A. Brady Comeback Scholarship Award. To read more, click here.