If it was a normal night for the Kamlet and Foerster families, Kim Kamlet would have been in the stands at Stutler Bowl Oct. 1, happily watching her daughter play field hockey and her nieces coaching.
But it hasn’t been a normal night for many months for the large, closely intertwined families as they continue to sharply feel the loss of Kim Kamlet, who died in April from aggressive breast cancer.
The rampant disease claimed Kamlet’s life just one month after she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, which rapidly spread to her liver, bones and lymph nodes. Her life, and those of many currently fighting breast cancer or those who have survived it were all part of the Smoky Hill field hockey team’s Play for the Cure game, which brought a poignant opening to October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“She was one of those amazing moms who was always up in the bleachers watching me and cheering me on and always the one making ribbons and having parties and all that stuff,” said Kamlet’s daughter, Jacqueline, a Smoky Hill freshman.
“It’s kindof hard coming into high school and knowing that I don’t have that, but that my sisters got to experience that. I’m lucky for the 14 years I had with her.”
Kim Kamlet was Smoky Hill coach Natalie Foerster’s aunt by blood, but felt every bit like a second mother to her.
Foerster and older sister Kaitlynne used to stay at the Kamlets’ house when their four siblings were born or be in their care when their mother was substitute teaching.
Kim Kamlet cared for them as much as she did for daughters Jacqueline, Julia — a Smoky Hill senior — and Jenna, the oldest.
“I remember choking on a Life Saver in the back seat and she said ‘you’re going to be OK, just breathe until we get to school so I can help you,’” Foerster recalled. “She was amazing.”
So when Kamlet’s diagnosis came and she passed away seemingly in the blink of an eye, the family rallied around her husband, Andy, and three girls.
“We have never been through something like that, we asked why does that happen to us, but it happens for a reason,” Foerster said. “If you thought we were a close family before, we’re even more close now. Like they say, when one person in the family is diagnosed, the entire family is, and that was very true for all of us.”
The family has participated in many Breast Cancer Awareness events in the past few months, and formed a team of hundreds — Kim’s Crusaders — that raised around $5,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation at the Race for the Cure on Sept. 28.
With so many family ties to the field hockey team, Foerster wanted to put on a Play for the Cure game and found an eager participant in a Cherry Creek team coached by Ashley Thompson, whose daughters attended Indian Ridge Elementary School where Kim Kamlet was a second grade teacher.
The others players on the Smoky Hill team jumped at the chance to support the family and the cause as they have all along.
“You can’t really find anybody who has lost their mom so young, but they try to relate to me as best they can,” Jacqueline Kamlet said. “It’s incredible to have such supportive girls around. It’s amazing to have my cousins as my coaches, but the girls on the team have become my family, too.”
At the game against Cherry Creek, the team wore pink jerseys, each with Kamlet’s name on the back, a pink ball was used during the game and the team passed a pink bucket through the crowd to collect contributions for its goal to donate at least $300 to the Komen Foundation. The team well exceeded that goal by taking in around $450.
On the field, Smoky Hill played its most inspired game of the season, playing even with Cherry Creek before the Bruins scored twice in a short burst for a 2-0 victory. Usually a JV player, Jacqueline Kamlet got to suit up and play varsity.
“We talked about how much this game meant to us,” Foerster said. “We know our girls are making baby steps as we call it. We’re rebuilding the program, but tonight it was a different team. … We didn’t care about winning or losing, we were playing for the cause.”
Foerster helps out with the field hockey team in the spring coached by sister Kaitlynne — with Julia Kamlet one of the top players —and said Smoky Hill plans a Play for the Cure game during that season as well.
Prep sports teams all across Aurora have also honored Breast Cancer Awareness month, donning pink towels, gloves, ribbons and all sorts of other apparel in support of the cause and will continue to do so through the end of the month.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
