Congratulations to Rhonda Kukoly, our feel good friday winner!
The following is the nomination letter we received from Rhonda's daughter.
Hello,
My name is Robyn Kukoly. I would love to nominate my mother, Rhonda Kukoly. Throughout her life she has dedicated her time to me and my sisters. She has supported us through all our difficulties and has never let us down.
Over the past summer I experienced something that changed my life forever. I played national soccer and wanted to go to the states on a scholarship offer. At a scouting tournament in the states I tore my ACL; I had ended my career in soccer. I was missing out on my grade 11-12 soccer season. The most important season of a soccer player’s career, this is the time you get scouted the most. I had to have surgery in June. Two weeks later, I experienced a downhill spiral. I was depressed and not getting better physically. The physio I had couldn’t quite tell why I was digressing instead of improving. I had experienced an overwhelming amount of pain. One day I got a fever after a month of pain and illness and complete suppression. I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t do anything, I didn’t want to. I had emergency surgery that morning after 8 hours in the hospital overnight of waiting scared and upset. I was in the hospital for a week and had to go back every day in July and August following that. I had a dangerous bacterial infection that could have killed me. I needed a blood transfusion and was not in any condition to want to continue. I wanted to give up and just be done with it. My mother stayed with me and loved me. She did everything in her power to keep me going. I didn’t have a lot of hope. She was there with me when I cried and there with me when I smiled, she was the one making me smile. She came everyday to keep me going, she was my guardian angel, and she slept with me, read to me encouraged me to do what I needed to do to move on. She encouraged that I would get better and it wasn’t the end of everything, she told me there were other options. She was there, and she was my savoir. To this day she supports me in the same ways. I have applied to ten universities and have received acceptance to all of them. I would not have been able to do this without her love and care for a new beginning. Everything happens for a reason. My mother has never left my side and she will never leave it. She is strong. She is an RN coordinator for St. Mary's Hospital London, and through all her busyness as a mother, she still finds time to take courses to increase her education. She finds time to get me a prom dress and to help me with all my new successes. If one person for this were to be nominated it is my mother. She has everything that I wish I could have.
