Reese Kemp used to tell his mother that he wanted to die. He'd had enough of hospitals and surgeries and feeding tubes. He missed his father, who suffered a fatal heart attack when Reese was 5, and he just wanted to find him in heaven.
Reese's mother, Shantelle Kemp, felt helpless, because what do you tell a boy with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening respiratory disease for which there is no cure?
She tried therapists. She tried hugs. She had no idea she needed University of Kentucky basketball players.
Now, after forging some unlikely friendships — watching movies with Terrence Jones and riding go-karts with Nerlens Noel and flying to Washington to visit John Wall — over the past three years, Reese's outlook has completely changed.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.