SOUTHPORT (WTHR) - The Southport 6th grade girls travel team advanced to the championship game of their winter league. Most of the 11 and 12-year-olds on the team have played together for five years.
They had to finish the season without perhaps their toughest player, Kari Mendel.
“If her face wasn't red and sweaty at the end of a practice or a game, then we knew something was wrong because she was always out there hustling," said Coach Chris Mitchell, who has led the team for three years.
12-year-old Southport Sixth Grade Academy student Kari Mendel sat on the bench for the final few games of the season with her hair in pig tails, showing off a big scar down the back of her skull.
“I'm very excited that I get to sit here and watch my friends play,” said Kari.
On January 20, doctors at Riley Hospital for Children removed a tumor the size of an orange from Kari's cerebellum.
“I was scared because tumors, everyone says that they're really bad,” said Kari, “So that's what I've been hearing. So I didn't really know what to expect. It seems scary at the beginning, but it's not as bad as it seems."
Kari was at basketball practice on Monday, January 16th. On Wednesday afternoon, she went to the optometrist to be checked out for what family thought was just lazy eye. The optometrist determined her vision was fine, but sent her immediately to an ophthalmologist, who sent her immediately to the hospital emergency room. Two days later, Kari underwent brain surgery.
“I was like, ‘You have to be kidding me.’ She's my world. It was hard. I started crying. I'm crying now,” said teammate Ava Green. “Kari is someone that likes to laugh with you. She'll do anything for you, really nice, caring and there's no way not to explain her in a good way.”
“I was scared,” said teammate Ce Ce Mitchell, “because she's really close to me and I didn't want anything to happen to her. You don't realize how fast you could like not be around when you're sick and stuff.”
“When we got the news that they found a brain tumor the size of an orange and she's been playing and practicing the whole season, it was hard to believe that she was doing what she was doing with that,” said Coach Mitchell.
The team visited Kari as she recovered from surgery at Riley Hospital and dedicated their season to her. The team added patches to their uniforms, Kari's number three on one shoulder and a heart on the other.
“I think it's really cool that they did that for me,” said Kari.
They broke every team huddle with a “1-2-3 Kari” chant.
“We were like, ‘We have to play for Kari.’ Kari strong, play for Kari. We had to. Kari, how would she play? Play like her. If we foul, we foul. If we foul out, we foul out, just play tough,” said Green.
"She's strong and she fights through everything,” said Ce Ce.
“They've kind of bonded together more than they had in the past,” said Coach Mitchell. “They're just playing for her now, so she's been an inspiration to them ever since this happened and going forward.”
“They really feel like Kari is still part of the team,” said Kristi Mendel, Kari’s mother. “She is still part of the team. They're doing it for her, but they just keep pushing along. I think them pushing along helps her push along as well.”
“They're being strong for me, so I have to be strong for them," said Kari.
The tumor was not cancerous and has only a 2-5% chance of returning. Doctors are limiting Kari's physical activity for a while, but she was shooting baskets again less than a month after surgery.
“She's a fighter,” said Kristi Mendel, Kari’s mother. “She's showing that obviously with her health, but she's also showing that when she's out on the court. I think it gave us a lot of hope that she'll be ready next season."
Kari returned to school last month and is doing well. She is going through physical therapy to help fully regain her balance and coordination. She attended her first softball practice Wednesday, but will be limited to team manager duties this season.
“Seeing her be able to do some of the things and just shooting the baskets out there with her team and making it as normal as possible just gives us a lot of hope,” said Kristi. “It allows us to know that things will be back to normal. She will be back out there playing next season and she will be the same little girl that she used to be.”
