Hometown Hero Nomination Spotlight
Anderson Krieger
When asked what advice he would share with children battling cancer, 18-year-old pediatric cancer patient Anderson Krieger replies, “Don’t be discouraged from planning for your future. Set your goals and don’t let your circumstances prevent you from living a fruitful and abundant life.” Anderson has definitely followed his own advice and has stayed SagerStrong.
Anderson was born in Snellville, Georgia and currently lives in Social Circle. He recently graduated from Westminster Christian Academy in May of this year. Anderson has been battling leukemia off and on since 2013. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on February 20, 2013 and has spent over 300 days in the hospital fighting the disease and facing numerous obstacles throughout his journey. At one point, Anderson couldn’t walk on his own for six months as the result of a life-threatening infection that ended his baseball career. However, Anderson discovered a new passion – music. A music therapist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta introduced the guitar to Anderson who soon progressed to learning about music theory and recording. He began playing in his church’s youth and adult praise band and the chapel band at school.
After Anderson’s first relapse, he learned about the organization Songs for Kids where he developed a passion for audio engineering. When Anderson relapsed a second time in 2019, he decided he wanted to pursue a career in audio engineering. Anderson applied to Belmont University and was accepted into the school’s audio engineering program of which he is extremely proud.
While Anderson has battled leukemia, he has missed out on building relationships with kids his own age and pursuing as many extracurricular activities as he would have liked. And yet, Anderson has been able to maintain a 3.0 grade point average and to be involved in several school and community organizations. He was his school’s soccer team manager during his senior year, Youth Assembly participant for two years, small group leader at his school during his junior and senior years and a CURE kid for six years to help raise awareness and money for the CURE Foundation. Anderson also helped serve Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter for two years, participated in various programs at Songs for Kids and played in the youth and adult praise band at church and the chapel band at school.
As Anderson prepares to enter college in the fall, he has a clear vision of what he desires to accomplish in the future. Anderson wants to graduate from college and work full-time in the recording studio while volunteering for Songs for Kids in his free time.
“Anderson has taught me so much in the last eight years about perseverance and courage,” says his mother, Sally. “He never complains or asks why he has to endure what he does. Instead, he looks for opportunities to grow with each challenge. To say I am proud is an understatement.”
#TEAMANDERSON #OurWhy — what is YOUR why?
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