KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are remembering Krystal Anderson, the former Chiefs cheerleader who passed away earlier this year due to childbirth complications.
On Tuesday, Matt McMullen with the Chiefs shared more about Krystal's life, legacy and how the Chiefs are honoring her in the 2024 season.
'Sparkle' is the word commonly used to describe the former Chiefs cheerleader, friend, wife and mother.
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Here's how her spirit will be present throughout the upcoming season:
Each squad member will wear a physical cuff with Krystal's initials on it on their right arm. It'll be embroidered with white rhinestones, on a field of red rhinestones.
The same logo will be added to the padding near the 10-yard line on the Chief's sideline.
The Hunt Family Foundation will also be making a financial contribution in Krystal's honor.
According to the Chiefs, Krystal cheered in more than 100 Chiefs games and was passionate about community service, while also being a visionary in her field, which included a monitoring system for postpartum hemorrhaging that's now utilized in hospitals around the world.
I spoke with Krystal's friends and her husband back in April who shared just a little bit about the type of person Krystal was.
"She just had this excitement and joy for life and that's contagious and that just made me want to do life with her," said Krystal's husband, Clayton Anderson. "She was going to meet you, make you be her friend and then cheer you on…she wanted nothing more than to see her friends do great things."
Her close friends also spoke of the joy that Krystal brought to every aspect of life.
"She brought kindness, she brought caring, she brought determination; she was fiercely loyal and she just went all in," said Krystal's best friend, Shanna Adamic. "As soon as she connected with you as a person, you became her person."
They also highlighted Black maternal health. Krystal died due to childbirth complications. She began her fight with sepsis, leading to organ failure. She was later placed on life support and passed away.
"We gotta do a better job for our mothers if we don't make changes to how we take care of pregnancy, particularly Black women, women of color pregnancies or nothing is ever going to change so the system needs to change," Clayton Anderson said in April.
"This woman was healthy, and fit and strong and so to have such a short window of time in 72 hours have such a change..a drastic change," Adamic said. "Bottom line is, it's not okay."
Friends and family continue to push for that change, while also highlighting Krystal's legacy and the impact she's made in our community.
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