For Northwestern State freshmen soccer players Kendall Hemperley and Sabrina McCarter, tonight’s ‘Fork Cancer’ game is not just any other contest.
In addition to each being in their first year on the team, Hemperley and McCarter have a much greater challenge in common — they both have a family member who has dealt with cancer.
The annual ‘Fork Cancer’ night sends NSU (7-3-3, 2-1-1 in the Southland Conference) against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-6-4, 1-2-2) in a contest that kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Demon Soccer Complex. It can be seen on ESPN+.
The Demons are partnering with the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center for the ‘Fork Cancer’ game. At the front gate, fans can grab pink swag as well as Hilinski’s Hope gear.
Both athletes echo the same sentiment — living life to the fullest.
“Through this, mentally, I’ve gotten way stronger and live every day to the fullest because you have no idea how fast your life can switch around like that,” McCarter said.
McCarter, a goalkeeper from Orem, Utah, had a personal experience with cancer at a young age, as her older sister Gabby was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2017 at the age of 15.
“I almost didn’t believe it when I was told she had cancer,” McCarter said. “It is one of those things where you think ‘It’ll never happen to us.’ When I first found out, I just cried because I didn’t believe it.”
She became more appreciative of life and who all helped her and her family through the journey.
“It made me more of a grateful person because it shows that everyone around you is good and does want to help out,” she said. ”Not only did it make me stronger, but it also made everybody around me stronger as well.
“It was 2022 or 2023 when I found out she was cancer free. It was the best news ever,” Sabrina said.
The night is extra special and meaningful for Hemperley, as not only is it the annual ‘Fork Cancer’ game, but it is also her mother, DeAnne Hemperley’s birthday.
DeAnne was diagnosed with 3D breast cancer toward the end of Kendall’s sophomore year of high school.
DeAnne did 16 rounds of chemo and 40 rounds of radiation. Kendall stated that she was her mother’s nurse for about a year and a half because she had d’flap reconstruction, which Kendall explained is a hip-to-hip incision.
But dealing with something like that drew Kendall even closer to her mother.
“It made my mom and me become best friends,” Kendall said. “We got very close during that time — and still are very close. I even spent one of my Homecomings getting ready in a hospital room.”
During the time when her mother was sick, Kendall would go on drives, listen to music or play soccer as an escape.
“The only time I didn’t think about it was while playing soccer,” she said. “Soccer was the one stable thing in my life, at that time. It was basically an escape.”
As an aspiring nurse and daughter of a nurse, Hemperley had hands-on experience working with her mother often, as well as helping her younger siblings.
“My mom is a nurse and being a nurse, I think helped with the whole process,” Kendall said. “She knows certain things and to ask about certain things and I want to be a nurse when I get older. So, her going through this kind of helped my future. I am going into college with a lot of knowledge that a lot of freshmen don’t have, wanting to be a nurse.”
Hemperley said that while her mother is now breast cancer free, since it is metastatic, she doesn’t know if it will pop up in other areas.
“Seeing her go through that and struggle to even stay alive, it definitely taught me that there are very important things in life,” Hemperley said. “It also taught me to take each day, day-by-day, and not to worry about the little things in life.”
VOLLEYBALL: The Demons continue a four-game road trip tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Hammond facing the Southeastern Louisiana University Lady Lions in Southland Conference action.
The Demons (1-17, 0-4 SLC) are seeking their first conference win after a pair of road losses last week.
Junior Deja Benjamin recorded her 400th career kill against A&M-Corpus Christi and finished the match with 11. Junior Jade Longlad continues to lead the Southland in aces with 33 and is 15th in the country in the category.
The Lady Lions (11-5, 3-1 Southland) enters Thursday contest undefeated at home (6-0).
