Meet our 2020 Hometown Hero Award Winner, Kale Corbett, a graduate of Tallulah Falls School, and student at Mercer University! Nominated by Camp Sunshine, Kale was diagnosed in 2011 at the age of 10. Read more about Kale, his cancer story, and how he and his family stayed #SagerStrong through their journey, below. Due to the pandemic, Kale was honored at the 2021 SagerStrong Stadium Fun Run at Truist Park (August 2021) . Thanks to Rand Refrigeration, Kale received a $2500 scholarship gift as inspiration to continue keeping strong! #beatbloodcancer
ABOUT KALE
In the fall of 2011, the Corbett household was living a fairly “charmed,” but typical, twenty-first-century American life. Kale’s Mom, Brandy, was serving as a middle school principal in a school district in Georgia, and his Dad, Tim was the high school athletic director. His sister, Katy, was a third-grade student in the system and Kale, was in the fourth grade in the same school. Brandy coached both of their children in basketball for the local recreation department; Tim coached Kale in football, and their family was blessed and surrounded by a loving extended family and a supportive small community. That all changed on a Saturday afternoon in October 2011, when Kale was playing in a football game and his Dad noticed that something was “off”. Typically, Kale gathered his fair share of tackles and touchdowns, but on that Fall Saturday, it was like Kale was playing in “slow motion.” Kale’s parents took him in for a blood test and within 48 hours, their world, as they knew it, came crashing down.
THE DIAGNOSIS AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Kale, an athletic 10-year-old who had been playing football just two days prior, was diagnosed with a rare form of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. After a month of tests, needle sticks, multiple small surgeries, and several rounds of toxic chemotherapy, his family was given the news that Kale had only a 15% chance of survival. This “nickel and dime” possibility of survival was also largely dependent on securing a “match” to serve as a donor for a bone marrow transplant. Kale’s sister, Katy, was his best option and was tested to see if she could become his donor. Unfortunately, there was only a one in four chance that a brother or a sister will have inherited the same two sets of HLA genes as their sibling, and the Corbett family found out on December 2, 2011, that Katy was not a match for Kale. After learning that Katy was not a match, the Corbetts turned to the “Be The Match”, which is the world’s largest and most diverse registry, which consists of more than 20 million donors. Since many tissue types used in matching are inherited, people are most likely to match someone of the same ethnic ancestry or ethnic background. Kale’s physicians reported to the family that Kale would more than likely have multiple matches due to the families’ Caucasian decent. Unfortunately, they were left brokenhearted again when they learned that Kale had only one potential “perfect” match on the entire registry. In January of 2012, good news came to the Corbett family, when they received a call that reported Kale’s one out of 20 million match was found, and she was willing to serve as Kale’s life-saving marrow donor! On March 6, 2012, Kale received the “magical marrow” from a single, Native American mother of two children from New Mexico.
THE JOURNEY
Kale’s bone marrow transplant was only beginning the second chapter of his journey to battle leukemia; a journey that his Mom, Brandy refers to as “a marathon and the race involved the following: Kale and Katy not seeing each other for over a month during his transplant; Katy living with her grandparents for three months away from Tim, Kale, and Mom as they stayed at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston and later the Ronald McDonald House; Kale missing his entire fifth-grade year of school, due to a compromised immune system; the need for Mom to resign from her role as a principal in October of 2012, due to complications from Kale’s transplant and not being able to work for ten months; and a substantial fiscal burden placed on the family based on the inordinate costs of chemotherapy, radiation, and a transplant. These challenges represented just a few of the adverse situations Kale, Katy, and their family experienced for over two years. When Kale was asked about how leukemia affected his life, school, and daily activities, he gave a very vivid description of his year:
“Even though I missed the majority of 4th grade and all of the 5th grade, after the dust settled, even though I had performed well academically, I decided to repeat the 6th grade so I could try and get some of the time I missed as a kid back,” said Kale. “I began getting back into sports by playing basketball and then track, which was really tough due to the fact I was wearing a mask. You see, my immune system was still compromised, and my body just hadn’t quite recovered from radiation, chemo, and transplant. The diagnosis was one thing, the treatments were tough, and the side effects of treatment were something I can live without experiencing again, however, the major obstacle was recovery. Before my diagnosis, anything requiring activity, ball skills, and competing generally came easy. After taking so much time off, combined with the effects of cortisone induced weight gain, it was tough to transition back into competition. Slowly but surely through lots of help, time, effort, and persistence, I was back at it and able to be competitive again.”
THE COMEBACK
Kale, being the survivor that he is, has grown into a fine young man, a scholar student, and a solid athlete. Kale graduated in Spring of 2021, at Tallulah Falls School, where Brandy serves as the Director of College Counseling and Head Girls Basketball Coach, Tim works as the Middle School Athletic Director and coaches Track & Field, and Katy, his sister also graduated.
We asked Kale in his own words to describe his accomplishments and what he is most proud of and this is what he had to say:
“I am proud to say that maintained a 4.33 weighted GPA through High School,” Kale shared. “I was able to study abroad, and as of last year, I was one of two student-athletes at my high school who participated in three sports, and was blessed to letter in all three! I’m focused on the future at Mercer and very grateful for people and organizations like yours who care enough to consider those who have been impacted by cancer. Looking back on my experience, I am most proud of the way I handled myself through my journey. I always try to have a positive outlook, I have fun as much as possible, and I never ‘sweat the small stuff.’ I also know that I could not have made it where I am today without the support of my Dad, Mom, Sister, and extended family. I also was blessed with great doctors and a wonderful single mom who served as my donor.”
STAYING #SAGERSTRONG
Kale would like other children who may be going through a similar situation or cancer diagnosis to never give up and keep a positive mindset.
“The worst thing you can do for yourself is to tell yourself you can’t do something,” Kale shares. “Anything is possible when you put your mind to it. After that, I would say having a positive attitude is key. I know from personal experience that doing so will help you in many ways.” The Corbett family is so thankful that Kale is back living life as a “normal” 19-year-old, with no limits or restrictions, and that he has been able to return to the world of sports which is such an important part of their family life.
2022 UPDATE ON KALE
#TEAMKALE#OurWhy — what is YOUR why?
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