MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This week, golfers are competing at the TPC Southwind golf course during the FedEx St. Jude Championship of the PGA Tour. It’s also a time for a special group of children to get together and add one more member to their family with quite a gift.
10 kids at the FedEx St. Jude Championship are all connected by one thing, and it’s not necessarily their love of golf. Each one is a survivor of childhood cancer and each one has their name somewhere in the sky.
Ask Kim Raney and she’ll tell you her grandson, Riley, is like any other kid.
"Riley is my second-born grandson. He’s such an outgoing little fella and up until he got sick, you’d never know what was going on in his little body," Raney said.
Riley was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 18 months old. He’s been out of treatment for over a year and on Wednesday, he joined a special fraternity. He’s one of 10 FedEx Purple Eagle honorees – St. Jude patients who have family connections at FedEx.
Raney has been a FedEx employee for over 30 years.
"We do feel connected. Every patient at St. Jude feels connected in some way and we all get to do things together and it’s awesome," said McKenzie, the 2021 honoree.
Eight of the nine previous honorees were on hand to welcome their newest member. Each honoree gets a FedEx Cessna Caravan plane named after them, bragging rights that not even the sky is a limit to their strength.
"I’ve been told that there’s a website out there and (Riley) can look it up anytime to see where his airplane is. I can’t wait to see that," Raney said.
2022 marks 10 years of Purple Eagle dedications. Like any family reunion, they celebrate milestones – like 2014 honoree Allie Allen. Allen just graduated from Ole Miss, bought a house and will get married in December after being told she wouldn’t survive to see her high school graduation.
"I’m hitting all the milestones that I would never even imagine at age 14. All that is thanks to St. Jude for saving my life," Allen said.
Masters of ceremonies were Jim West, Vice President of Supplemental Air Operations for FedEx Express, and Richard Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Each of them has been a part of the Purple Eagle program in its entirety and have watched the recipient's grow.
"That’s what this is all about, watching these kids grow up and lead lives. Fulfill their dreams just like all of us are getting the opportunity to do. Every child should have the opportunity to fulfill their dream and that’s what this mission is all about," Shadyac said.
Increasing the survival rate of childhood cancer has always been a goal of St. Jude. So much so that by 2030, they want to increase the global survival rate from 20% to 60%.