Visit by Dobbs, Kendrick boosts spirit of fan with cancer

Editor's Note: Jackie Kelly died February 4, 2017.

Mike Kelly wouldn’t normally wake his wife from sleeping. Jackie Kelly is battling cancer for the fourth time in a year and needs all the rest her weary body can get.

But knowing she wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity, Mike gently shook Jackie and told her she had some guests.

Once she turned on the light in her room, Tennessee offensive lineman Brett Kendrick walked through the door followed by Vols quarterback Joshua Dobbs.

“She just lit up like a Christmas tree,” Mike Kelly said. “She was like ‘Go Vols’ and they started laughing and said ‘Go Vols.’ They talked about everything but her being sick and she just got to be a fan for the 45 minutes they were here. She was just her old self.”

Getting to meet Kendrick and Dobbs last week provided an emotional lift for Jackie. A lifelong Tennessee Vols fan, the 51-year-old Admore native has been attending football games with her father, a season-ticket holder, since she was 8.

Her room at the Diversicare therapy facility in Oak Ridge is decked out in Vols memorabilia with a handmade Tennessee quilt covering her bed.

Jackie and Mike named their 8-year-old son Dane after former Tennessee basketball player Dane Bradshaw and Dane has a picture in his room of him sitting in the lap of legendary Lady Vols women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt when he was 18 months old.

“It was a very great surprise and exciting visit. I had no idea they were coming. I was blown off my feet," Jackie said. “They were so kind and so sympathetic for what I was going through and they kept telling me over and over they were praying for me. It was just a great day.”

One of Jackie’s best friends is friends with Kendrick’s aunt. Once she found out about Jackie’s condition and her love for Tennessee football, she asked Brett if he would have time to visit. The arrangement took only a few days to make happen.

"Any way we can brighten someone's day, we like to do that," Kendrick said. "When we heard about Jackie, the thing that got us the most was that she had an 8-year-old son. I have never lost an immediate family member and Dobbs hasn't either. I just can't imagine being an 8-year-old and losing my mom. That is the thing that really hit us the most."

The visit is one of several that Tennessee athletes make that aren’t done to generate publicity. But the proliferation of social media over the years has increased the awareness of their community-oriented trips.

Before visiting Jackie, Dobbs and Kendrick were part of a group of Tennessee students that visited Gatlinburg last week to meet with evacuees and first responders from the wildfire.

“I have been blessed with a great platform since I have been here. I remember my goals coming to Tennessee was just to take advantage of every opportunity I have, whether it’s on the field with my play or giving back to the community and taking advantage of those opportunities,” Dobbs said. “Each one you go to is different and each one you go to you are able to touch someone else’s lives and they are very humbling. You really think about what you are thankful and grateful for.

"You get caught up in wins and losses and different things and how many yards you throw for. But when you are able to give back to the community you realize there are a lot more important things than the game of football. Not saying football isn’t important. But there are a lot of problems and stuff going on in the world around you that you need to pay mind to and put your attention towards.”

FAITH, FAMILY AND FOOTBALL

The words “resolve” and “resiliency” have been used many times by coach Butch Jones to characterize a Tennessee football season filled with injuries. Jackie embodies their true meaning.

Jackie was diagnosed with lung cancer in January, when doctors also found two spots on her brain. They treated the cancers separately and she began to recover.

But in July, Jackie began having trouble with her legs and feet and the doctors discovered more cancer at the base of her spinal cord. She underwent more treatment and her scans came back clean.

Just when her family thought the worst was over, Jackie started forgetting words and having trouble with her balance six weeks ago. They pushed up the date for a scan and it revealed 100 tumors in her brain and brain stem.

“They said if she didn’t do any treatment, she would have two weeks to live,” her husband said. “With treatment, they gave her three or possibly four months. She decided to get treatment again and keep fighting for as long as she can.”

Throughout her battle, faith, family and football have kept Jackie going. Although she realizes how serious her prognosis is, she refused to let it sideline her passions in life.

“She was devastated more by the fact that she had to miss the last two home football games this season instead of the fact that she has cancer,” Mike said. “The whole time she has been very upbeat and positive. She has never gotten depressed about it.”

Despite her weakened state, Jackie managed to achieve one of her biggest goals this season.

“She told her dad she was going to do everything she could to get to that Bristol game. She had talked about going ever since the game was scheduled,” said Mike, referring to Tennessee’s meeting with Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 10th. “She made it there. She had a cane and they drove her around in a golf cart and she had an elevator pass to get to her seat. But she made it there.”

VOL FOR LIFE

Mike likes to joke that when Jackie told him about her dad’s season tickets for Tennessee football, “I told her I loved her.” And when she told him they were in a dry area on the lower level, “I asked what ring size she wore.”

Their shared love for Tennessee sports made their bond grow even closer. They have spent many Saturdays in the fall tailgating together outside of Neyland Stadium and many nights in the winter watching Tennessee basketball in Thompson-Boling Arena.

Mike has been by Jackie’s side throughout the last 11 months. He is a security officer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for National Strategic Protective Services.

“The guys and girls I work with have donated 200-something hours of vacation for me so I can be with her as long as I can,” Mike said. “They have bent over backwards to accommodate me and gone above and beyond what I ever imagined.”

Jackie has finished her 10 radiation treatments and started therapy to try and strengthen her legs and core. She wants to return home to spend the holidays with her family.

Mike and Jackie are waiting until after Christmas to tell Dane just how sick his mom is. But even amidst all her difficulties, Jackie was the one providing a pep talk to Dobbs and Kendrick as they prepared to leave from their visit.

“I kept encouraging them and telling them, ‘Honey. We encounter adversity every day and the choice is how we handle it,’ ” Jackie said. “I am going to continue the fight.”

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