Small moments matter deeply for Badgers
February 28, 2018 | Women's Track & Field, Badgers Give Back, Andy Baggot, Varsity Magazine
Spending time at American Family Children’s Hospital provides meaningful connections
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The email addressed to Kareem Jackson arrived in the wee hours of the morning on Jan. 18 and quickly brought the Wisconsin assistant men's and women's track coach to tears.
"I was definitely blown back," he said.
Jackson had recently accompanied members of the UW women's team to American Family Children's Hospital, where they visited with patients and parents facing all sorts of medical challenges.
The focus of their visit was an activity called "Caleb's Pitch." It involves kids armed with plastic, paint-filled syringes trying — amid giggles — to turn student-athletes into stationary pieces of art.
That's where Jackson and his charges crossed paths with 7-year-old Chloe and her family from Waunakee, Wisconsin.
That's where the contents of the email first came to life.
Jackson read the introductory words of Chloe's father, Scott, and felt his world change forever.
"I am sure the women on your team have no idea how meaningful their visit, smiles and signatures mean to these kids," it began.
"We are huge Badger fans and being able to interact with a Badger student-athlete and then talk about going to watch them when we are better is something that is extremely powerful and motivating to a child who is recovering from something so devastating."
The email went on to detail how Chloe, an aspiring runner, had undergone surgery to remove a tennis-ball sized tumor from her brain almost two weeks earlier.
Chloe ultimately had two surgeries to completely remove the benign growth and spent 35 days in the hospital recovering from the procedure.
What Jackson and his student-athletes didn't know when "Caleb's Pitch" began was that Chloe hadn't walked without assistance since her series of surgeries in late December. She came to the playroom in her father's arms.
At one point, Jackson asked Chloe if she wanted to join team members — Rayce Albino, Claire Buck, Amy Davis, Gabby DeRosiers, Ebony McClendon, Chinne Okoronkwo, Casie Pawlik, Sophia Rivera, Josie Schaefer, Kelsey Sullivan and Isabella Weekly — for a group photo and she hesitated.
"So the girls called out to her, 'Hey, Chloe, come take a picture with us,'" Jackson said. "She lit up like a Christmas tree."
Chloe left her father's arms and walked — unattended and unencumbered by a tube tower — to the middle of the photo and knelt down, smiling for the camera with the Badgers.
"It takes away your breath a little bit," Scott said, "because it's one of your first moments where you're getting a glimpse of recovery and into the future."
Jackson, who has a daughter of his own, blinked back tears as he read the email.
"We may have spent an hour at the hospital, maybe 10 or 15 minutes with her," he said. "It tells you how important our time is to other people — how valuable it is — even though we look at it as just a few minutes."
Jackson said he typically accompanies his student-athletes to Badgers Give Back events and usually forwards any feedback he gets to them.
This time was different.
Jackson, who oversees the sprint events, brought team members into a Camp Randall Stadium conference room and projected the email on a large big screen. He wanted them to read it at the same time.
"It was very, very quiet in the room," he said. "You could see them just kind of being moved by it."
Discussion time followed.
"We talked about some of the injuries that we had within the group and how very small that was in the grand scheme of life," Jackson said. "We just tried to tie everything together.
"That's more than just inspiration, it's perspective."
Jackson said he was moved by Scott's email, which arrived at 4:46 a.m.
"He sent it very early," Jackson said. "It must have been on his brain and it touched him.
"It must have radiated through the family, through the rest of that night and even in the morning, that they probably talked about (the hospital visit) more than any of us ever imagined.
"That's what I mean about the 10 minutes, the 15 minutes (the student-athletes) communicated with her, how long-lasting that was."
The moment was a life-changer for Jackson.
"Obviously, we all want to win a Big Ten Championship and do things like that," he said, "but that right there is such a bigger calling, that's such a bigger deal than any championships that I've won or been a part of at this university. Not even close."
