Randi Perkins "Kids Helping Kids"
Randi Scholarship Information 2013
“Fighting From a Different Angle”
“Things happen for a reason.” We know through experience that things do happen, but we don’t always know why. Why are there illnesses? Why are there accidents? Why do loved ones come into our lives and in the blink of an eye are taken from us? They are gone. We are left with the memories, and along with those memories are countless hours of asking ourselves and one another, Why? And we still, years later, have no answers.
A typical teenage girl also has questions about some things. “Which guy likes me? What will I wear on Friday night? How am I going to wear my hair? What car will I get when I turn 16?” On the other hand, some things she should not worry about. “When will I schedule my chemotherapy and radiation treatments? When will I go shopping for something to cover my bald head? Will I be able to get out of bed tomorrow?
Those were the questions of Randi Perkins. At the age of 13, Randi was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer: undifferentiated sarcoma. She went through surgery, chemotherapy treatments, surgery again and radiation therapy. For three years her life was consumed with hours upon hours spent in a hospital. Randi began her sophomore year of high school with thoughts on how she was going to live a “normal” high school life, despite the nagging questions she faced daily.
What were her answers to all this? Randi maintained a 3.5 GPA, played select softball, high school softball and basketball, all while having extensive doses of chemotherapy and radiation. She defied the odds and was doing what doctors told her she physically would not be able to do. Most importantly she was living the life she wanted; she was typical teen, not wanting and not allowing her illness to interfere in how she was going to live.
After a three year battle, cancer took Randi’s body but not her spirit. She never lost her will and her love for life. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of others, and she still is. Randi’s 16 years of life have left an imprint on all who were given the opportunity to know her, and she has touched the lives of those who have merely heard her story. Randi believed in life, and she lived it with courage, determination, strength, hope, and love. Her fight, as Randi put it, is far from over.
“…I have not lost, but will fight from a different angle…”
Kids Helping Kids, Ltd. Randi Perkins Scholarship Fund was established in February 2001 and is an non-profit organization in the continuation of Randi’s request “…to help the kids.”
Let us, as she did, put aside our nagging questions. Help us help Randi fight “from a different angle” and fulfill her request “…to help the kids.”
