Kendyl’s mom tells us she has always loved basketball and since she was a toddler, she has always wanted a basketball in her hand. For Kendyl, its more than just about shooting hoops. She loves to experiment with the basketball and learn new tricks. When her mom showed her a video of the Harlem Globetrotters, Kendyl was mesmerized and hooked. She spent hours watching the videos and then trying to perform the Globetrotter’s tricks.
Kendyl was born extremely prematurely, and as a result, this summer she underwent open-heart surgery to strengthen and reinforce some of her underdeveloped valves and muscles. The day after her surgery, Kendyl suffered a stroke which left her with limited strength and movement on her right side. Now, once a week, Kendyl and her mom travel to Atlanta to CHOA’s Scottish Rite facility to participate in a new advanced type of robotics physical therapy. While they are in Atlanta, Kendyl and her mom say they are blessed to stay at the Ronald McDonald House at Peachtree and Dunwoody. Kendyl loves the friends she makes there and reconnects with each week.
Kendyl loves eating pizza at her favorite restaurant, Chuck E. Cheese, reading books, watching the movie Trolls and jamming to Bruno Mars. Her nurses at CHOA describe Kendyl as “Super-sweet and always kind” and say that she “has a calmness and a maturity about her” despite all she has endured. Her sports dream is to meet the Harlem Globetrotters and watch them play basketball. She works hard in her physical therapy, so that one day she can become a professional women’s basketball player and, so that soon, she can regain her ability to dribble basketballs and perform other tricks!
