22-05-2025
Community lifting up former Crown Point volleyball star facing leukemia
CROWN POINT, Ind. — The community is rallying around a current college volleyball player and former Crown Point star facing a recent leukemia diagnosis.
Kendall Schara, 21, was wrapping up her spring season for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay when she went to the dentist to get her wisdom teeth removed.
She had some complications with antibiotics and ended up in urgent care up in Green Bay. She was tested for COVID-19, the flu and strep. It came back positive for Influenza A.
Her conditioned worsened and she ended up in the emergency room.
'Her team was playing Wisconsin and she stayed behind with abdominal pain,' mother Shelley Schara said. 'They thought she had to have her gallbladder removed but a test came back and it showed no blockage.'
Schara underwent a bone marrow biopsy on April 24 and the next day she received the news that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
'You're heartbroken and you question how this could happen to your child,' Shelley said. 'Then you kick into survival and fight mode to keep her positive.'
Schara is a fighter who has been playing volleyball since she was a kid. She helped lead the Crown Point Bulldogs to a sectional championship and was named all-conference of the Duneland in 2020 and 2021.
'It's someone no one expects to go through at 21 and it's still something so hard to wrap my mind around, 'cancer,'' she told WGN News. 'But to be able to come home and lean back on people I haven't seen in awhile — they're always going to be here for me.'
Her Green Bay teammates and coach have also been in her corner.
'Kendall is a leader, a warrior, and a special young woman. I love coaching Kendall and I love who she is,' her coach Abby Geschke wrote on social media. 'Our team is devastated, but we know we have a role. We have the honor of supporting her, and we will do whatever we can do to help her fight and win.'
Schara is currently on a 24-hour drip of chemotherapy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where a steady stream of visitors have kept her company.
After chemotherapy, her next road will be a stem cell treatment. Without hesitancy, her two younger sisters volunteered to be tested and her mother said they will fight until they get a match.
A GoFundMe set up by Schara's high school coach has raised over $43,000 at this time for her medical bills.
'Crown Point has been absolutely amazing with the calls, texts, letters, visitors and food being delivered,' her mother said. 'But most importantly with prayers and it's amazing to see the community come together and help during a time like this.'
In the meantime, Schara is thankful for modern technology and being close to home during this time.
'I have visitors every single day. Green Bay people, Crown Point people. Having a Roku here is life saving,' Schara said with a laugh.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
