The JAMfest 2015Sep 27, 2015 by FloCheer Staff
Cheer Icon Reaches Out To Help Cheerleader Battling Effects Of Cancer
Cheer Icon Reaches Out To Help Cheerleader Battling Effects Of Cancer
Cheer icon, Andrea Kuhlburg reaches out to help fellow cheerleader battling the effects of cancer.
Andrea Kuhlburg was a University of Texas Cheerleader and a well known NCA summer camp instructor. She traveled around the United States teaching high school and college cheerleaders at NCA summer camps. Andrea taught and cheered and is still often seen in public with her twin sister, Aly.
The twins were born prematurely and were not expected to live through their first night. Andrea was diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity and lost most of her eyesight within the first days of her life. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease that occurs in premature babies. It causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina, the layer of nerve tissue in the eye that enables us to see. This growth can cause the retina to detach from the back of the eye, leading to blindness. ( kidshealth.org )
Andrea and Aly were strong girls and did survive that first night along with many more, and are now well known public speaking and leadership development mentors in the cheerleading industry. They own www.TheCheerLEADInteractive.com, a cheer consulting company which is based here in the United States. They also have a company abroad in the UK, www.LegacyCheerandDance.com that helps them send their message worldwide. They work with cheerleaders, coaches, parents, and gyms to help them focus on creating successful plans for leadership and motivation. Their message, “One is Blind. Both have Vision.” is well recognized in the cheer community. About four years ago, the pain in Andrea’s right eye became unbearable and she had surgery to replace it with a prosthetic eye.
Andrea and her sister have overcome many obstacles such as blindness, poverty, divorce and cancer and are now well established CEOs, TV spokespersons, authors, world champions, and Olympic torch bearers. According to their websites, Andrea is a member of the USASF/IASF Cheerleading Hall of Fame and served as the elected International Representative on the USASF/IASF Board of Directors and multiple USASF committees including the International Rules Committee and the International Sanctioning Committee.
Needless to say, Andrea is a busy woman with a lot of influence worldwide. This summer, Andrea heard about an all-star prep cheerleader from her home state of Texas, Katie Taylor. Katie is a fellow cancer survivor, and St. Jude’s patient who was having difficulty communicating with her teammates about her own prosthetic eye. Katie was diagnosed early on with retinoblastoma, a cancer that begins in the retina of the eye.
Katie joined an all-star prep team in Keller, Texas in November of 2014. Her first cheer competition was planned for December 13, 2014. She was scheduled for her annual visit to St. Jude’s hospital in Memphis, TN on December 10, 2014, where she was going to receive her new prosthetic eye. Katie came through with flying colors and competed on stage at Spirit Celebration just three short days later. Her team supported her and often participated in raising money and awareness for St. Jude’s.
With a new team forming in the summer of 2015, Katie was trying to find a way to talk to her new teammates about her eye and how the blindness in her right eye can affect her performances. Katie wanted to develop a way to communicate so that her team could better understand how to ask questions about her condition. Andrea sent Katie and her team a heart felt and supportive video message to facilitate communication. The video was a great tool to start the much needed conversation. Katie replied to Andrea with her own video response filled with thanks. A very special relationship was instantly formed. Andrea was doing coaches training and running competitions in the UK when she got Katie’s message. She played it for the coaches she was educating. A flood of support messages and videos soon followed from teams all across the UK who wanted to support Katie and Andrea.
The next week, Andrea was doing some training at Cheer Athletics in Plano, TX. She invited Katie and her mother Linda to come and meet the coaches. The dynamic duo finally met in person where Katie and Andrea chatted like old friends. This meeting gave Katie confidence and a type of support she could only get from another cancer survivor with a prosthetic eye. With her new found assurance, renewed in her friendly relationship with Andrea, Katie soon made the level 3 all-star prep team where she showcases her tumbling and basing skills. Just like Andrea, Katie is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with on the performance stage and in life.
The twins were born prematurely and were not expected to live through their first night. Andrea was diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity and lost most of her eyesight within the first days of her life. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease that occurs in premature babies. It causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina, the layer of nerve tissue in the eye that enables us to see. This growth can cause the retina to detach from the back of the eye, leading to blindness. ( kidshealth.org )
Andrea and Aly were strong girls and did survive that first night along with many more, and are now well known public speaking and leadership development mentors in the cheerleading industry. They own www.TheCheerLEADInteractive.com, a cheer consulting company which is based here in the United States. They also have a company abroad in the UK, www.LegacyCheerandDance.com that helps them send their message worldwide. They work with cheerleaders, coaches, parents, and gyms to help them focus on creating successful plans for leadership and motivation. Their message, “One is Blind. Both have Vision.” is well recognized in the cheer community. About four years ago, the pain in Andrea’s right eye became unbearable and she had surgery to replace it with a prosthetic eye.
Andrea and her sister have overcome many obstacles such as blindness, poverty, divorce and cancer and are now well established CEOs, TV spokespersons, authors, world champions, and Olympic torch bearers. According to their websites, Andrea is a member of the USASF/IASF Cheerleading Hall of Fame and served as the elected International Representative on the USASF/IASF Board of Directors and multiple USASF committees including the International Rules Committee and the International Sanctioning Committee.
Needless to say, Andrea is a busy woman with a lot of influence worldwide. This summer, Andrea heard about an all-star prep cheerleader from her home state of Texas, Katie Taylor. Katie is a fellow cancer survivor, and St. Jude’s patient who was having difficulty communicating with her teammates about her own prosthetic eye. Katie was diagnosed early on with retinoblastoma, a cancer that begins in the retina of the eye.
Katie joined an all-star prep team in Keller, Texas in November of 2014. Her first cheer competition was planned for December 13, 2014. She was scheduled for her annual visit to St. Jude’s hospital in Memphis, TN on December 10, 2014, where she was going to receive her new prosthetic eye. Katie came through with flying colors and competed on stage at Spirit Celebration just three short days later. Her team supported her and often participated in raising money and awareness for St. Jude’s.
With a new team forming in the summer of 2015, Katie was trying to find a way to talk to her new teammates about her eye and how the blindness in her right eye can affect her performances. Katie wanted to develop a way to communicate so that her team could better understand how to ask questions about her condition. Andrea sent Katie and her team a heart felt and supportive video message to facilitate communication. The video was a great tool to start the much needed conversation. Katie replied to Andrea with her own video response filled with thanks. A very special relationship was instantly formed. Andrea was doing coaches training and running competitions in the UK when she got Katie’s message. She played it for the coaches she was educating. A flood of support messages and videos soon followed from teams all across the UK who wanted to support Katie and Andrea.
The next week, Andrea was doing some training at Cheer Athletics in Plano, TX. She invited Katie and her mother Linda to come and meet the coaches. The dynamic duo finally met in person where Katie and Andrea chatted like old friends. This meeting gave Katie confidence and a type of support she could only get from another cancer survivor with a prosthetic eye. With her new found assurance, renewed in her friendly relationship with Andrea, Katie soon made the level 3 all-star prep team where she showcases her tumbling and basing skills. Just like Andrea, Katie is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with on the performance stage and in life.