Updated April 6, 2023: Updated to make clear the Kirk Goodwin Run is annually hosted by the men of Galaxy.
Kade Parmelly, former ACU football player and current Gamma Sigma Phi sponsor, was diagnosed with leukemia in December causing friends, family and the ACU community to rally together and fundraise for his treatment. So far, $68,000 has been raised.
Parmelly, originally from Abilene and a Wylie graduate, chose ACU to continue his football career and sited it not necessarily as a new chapter, but a continuation of one he was already in.
“I wanted to play football out of high school and that was a big reason I chose ACU,” Parmelly said. “Being from Abilene, it was kind of like 13 grade for me. I didn’t necessarily want to stay in Abilene but once I did it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
Parmelly left for Duke after the COVID-19 pandemic began and gained an eligibility year to transfer football programs. Parmelly then graduated from Duke in May of 2022 with a master’s degree in management studies.
By that point, Parmelly didn’t have a way to support himself so he decided to move back home and live with his parents for a few months. Once Parmelly returned to Abilene, he had the opportunity to become a Gamma Sigma Phi sponsor.
“The fact that he wanted to commit the time to being a sponsor meant a lot to us,” said Kaden Yowell, president of GSP and senior marketing major from Carrollton. “He has the most happy, joyful personality of any person that I have met. He is a great role model for any of the members to look up to.”
Parmelly was diagnosed with leukemia in December. Parmelly shared the story of his diagnosis with the ACU community in the following months.
“I started feeling bad around December, I would feel sick, more or less that pattern continued,” Parmelly said in a video presented during Chapel. “I spent a couple of days in a hospital room and was taken to Dallas in an ambulance late Friday night and started getting treatment at UT Southwestern Medical Center.”
After the announcement of the diagnosis, a GoFundMe was established in support of his medical treatments and bills. Parmelly said he is overwhelmed by the enormous amount of support from the community.
“My first reaction was extremely overwhelming in a good way,” Parmelly said. “I definitely did not expect for as many people to give as generously as they did. Not even just from the GoFundMe, you have all these different clubs wanting to give without hesitation as just been so overwhelmingly thoughtful.”
In addition to the GoFundMe, the men of Galaxy are also putting proceeds from the annual Kirk Goodwin Run towards Parmelly’s treatment. The Kirk Goodwin Run, established in 1984, was created to cover the medical and funeral bills for the family of a then Nova who tragically passed away in an accident.
“Our goal is to help out any member of the ACU community whenever help arises,” Hayden Poorman, president of the KGR Foundation and senior financial management major from Abilene said. “That’s the whole reason why KGR was established, there was somebody in the community that needed help, people stood up in order to make that happen.”
After receiving word from Gamma Sigma Phi about Parmelly’s situation, KGR decided to pick Parmelly as their beneficiary.
Traditionally, Gamma Sigma Phi and Galaxy are club rivals but have used this opportunity to come together, Yowell said.
“The best thing about ACU is when someone who is somehow tied to our community is in need we all come together, regardless of what club you’re in or you might not be in a club at all,” Yowell said. “We all come together and try to support the person in need, right now that’s Kade.”
The Parmelly family encourages donations to the GoFundMe, but they also ask for prayers for Kade.
“Pray, really that is what we need,” Shawna Parmelly, Kade’s mom, said. “Our needs are being met physically but just prayer. We are constantly humbled by that. It feels very comforting and when things feel overwhelming that’s the kind of outreach that you know you aren’t alone.”
