26 March 2024
LEAWOOD, Kan. (WDAF) — A Kansas City-area family is grieving after the loss of both a new child and a mother.
Krystal “Krissy” Anderson was only 40 years old when she died. Friends say she was a staple on the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleading team for 10 seasons.
Shanna Adamic misses her friend of 18 years.
“She was absolute magic in every sense of the word,” Adamic said. “She brought it on the field. She brought it to her friendships. She brought it to our tours we had around the world.”
Krystal was just 21 weeks pregnant. When doctors couldn’t find a heartbeat, her daughter, Charlotte, was born at rest.
Doctors then say Krystal spiked a fever and became septic. She went into organ failure, and days later, despite three surgeries, she passed away.
“I feel lost,” Krystal’s husband, Clayton Anderson, said. “There’s a lot of people in this house, and it feels empty.”
A study published last year in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” says maternal deaths in the U.S. have more than doubled over two decades. It said Black mothers died at the highest rate.
“It’s very well known that Black mothers in the United States die at a higher rate than their white counterparts,” Dr. Marc Parrish said. “If you look at the specific rate, it’s three times, almost, three times of white moms.”
Dr. Parrish is the Maternal Fetal Medicine Division Director at the University of Kansas Health System.
“Definitely over the last two decades,” Dr. Parrish said. “We’ve even seen it as in short of a period of just an annual basis. We’ve seen slow rises every year.”
“It’s, you know, we say, ‘the best country in the world,’ right? Not if you’re a Black pregnant woman, it’s not, and that needs to change,” Clayton said.
Clayton said Krystal was passionate about women’s health and Black women in STEM. She was a yoga instructor and a software engineer.
Adamic said Krystal got a Patton for assessing the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.
“She was an absolute force for good. She made every room just light up,” Clayton said.
He said she touched this community with her kind spirit. Cheering more than 100 games over 10 seasons.
Clayton and Krystal experienced a stillbirth before they got pregnant with Charlotte. Clayton holds a stuffed animal for little Charlotte and another for her brother, James, whose ashes are inside.
He held them tight – missing his family, remembering his love.
“It was a joyful love,” Clayton said.
Services for Krystal are being held this week.