KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas family is honoring the legacy of a teenager who lost her battle with cancer.
Olivia Andrews, from Independence, Kansas, was 14 when she passed away in November 2022, but not before she left a lasting legacy.
“She was just pure joy and she had this infectious personality,” said Crystal Poovey, Olivia’s cousin. “When she came around you couldn’t be sad. She was just pure light.”
KSHB 41 first met Olivia at the Chiefs season opener during the 2022 season. The station heard about her story and provided tickets to the game for her and her family.
Olivia worked to cross of items from her list of to-do’s. Experiencing her first Chiefs game was just one of many things she accomplished.
“Couple of weeks before she passed she actually got a tattoo. She took it like a champ,” Poovey said. “She got to do a lot of things in a short period of time and we are so grateful for that.”
Olivia was most know for her kind heart. She repeatedly helped people experiencing homelessness while she was going through chemotherapy.
“That’s what we want to continue to honor for her — spreading kindness to other the way that she did,” Poovey said. “Without expectations of repayment or anything.”
People on Facebook are starting to share their act of kindness for Olivia after her family passed out cards at her memorial asking attendees to a good deed.
Most recently some people have donated clothes to those in need, cleaned up a neighbor’s yard and helped an elderly person with their groceries.
Poovey said the family likes to read about the acts of kindness on Olivia’s memorial page.
“Reading what other people are doing, spreading kindness to honor Olivia really just touches us and keeps us going,” she said. “That’s why we started the initiative in the first place. We wanted to spread the kindness Olivia was doing.”
—
