SARCOXIE, Mo. — Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted the wishes of thousands of children with chronic illnesses across the United States. Another one will come true this September for a Sarcoxie teen who has battled Cystic Fibrosis since she was a toddler.
It’s easy to assume the worst or “freak out when you hear you’re a Make-A-Wish kid” as Kenzie Chrisman says, but her quality of life is just fine. [CF is a genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs.] At the age of 17, she’s about to start her senior year at Sarcoxie High School and enjoy this last round on the school’s jazz band. She has to go to medical checkups in Kansas City every three months, but it was on one of those trips when she thought of her wish.
“Last February, my mom and I were on our way to Kansas City and a Billy Joel song was on the radio,” Kenzie said. “I just remember thinking how cool it would be to meet him and write a song with him. And that was the same day some Make-A-Wish volunteers talked to me about what I wanted to do.”
Guess who gets to go to New York this September!?
Kenzie has her fingers crossed that she’ll get to meet the music legend at his concert in Madison Square Garden. They may not get to write a song together, as she had originally wished, but this young music artist is still glowing with excitement for the experience.
“It was a long shot but if I was going for anything in the world, that’s what I was shooting for,” Kenzie said. “I’m so grateful I get to go to New York and see all the places … I’m a big Billy Joel fan, but I love playing music the most. God gave me a gift – I can feel it in my hands – and it’s easy to feel what’s going on. In seventh grade, I picked up a guitar and I started writing down things I felt. It was the easiest way to make me feel happy.”
Bass, piano, harmonica or the drums, riding her bike, shooting 3’s when she was at Avilla Elementary School – Kenzie never let CF hold her back from doing the things she loved. It wasn’t until 2020 in her eighth grade year when a life-changing medicine tremendously helped her lung function.
“I never felt different or like an outcast because it was just one more unique thing about me,” Kenzie said. “I always knew there was a reason God gave it to me and no one else I knew. That’s how I looked at it. But I never felt good or quite 100 percent. I would have this wheezing, really bad stomachaches all the time – it was hard but it didn’t stop me. I loved sports.”
Kenzie is known for her diehard supporters. Locals may have heard of Kenzie’s Kruisers – the fundraising group that supports the family – started by her grandmother, Lodema Martin, who also routinely wrapped Christmas presents for donations. Kenzie is the middle child of Matt and Zelma Chrisman, and sister to Caleb and Cadence. They’re all cheering for Kenzie as she anticipates earning a degree in music at Drury University as her next step in life.
“CF did affect the way I grew up,” she said. “It made me smarter about decisions and more cautious. I was very patient. I gave it God and I let Him handle it. [My life] is really happening and it’s because of Him.
“If I got the chance to give another kid like me encouragement, I would say God has a plan for you … You might try picking up a guitar. He gave me this talent to play music and I know that He knew I’d be given crazy opportunities. He knew what was going to happen.”
