NATCHITOCHES—For freshmen Kendall Hemperley and Sabrina McCarter, Thursday's 'Fork Cancer' game is not just any other contest.

In addition to each being in their first year as a member of the Northwestern State (7-3-3, 2-1-1) soccer team, Hemperley and McCarter have one other experience in common—they both have experience with a family member who has dealt with cancer.

The annual 'Fork Cancer' game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-6-4) kicks off at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Demon Soccer Complex.

The Demons are partnering with the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center for the 'Fork Cancer' game.

At the front gate, fans can grab pink swag as well as Hilinski's Hope gear.

Both athletes echo the same sentiment of living life to the fullest because no one knows how much time they have left.

"Through this, mentally, I've gotten way stronger and live every day to the fullest because you have no idea how fast your life can switch around like that," McCarter said.

McCarter, a goalkeeper from Orem, Utah, had a personal experience with cancer at a young age, as her older sister Gabby was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2017 at the age of 15.

"I almost didn't believe it when I was told she had cancer," McCarter said. "It is one of those things where you think 'It'll never happen to us.' When I first found out, I just cried because I didn't believe it."

A part of a close-knit family, the McCarters needed the family support more than ever, as Sabrina watched her sister go through what she did.

She found out it wasn't just Gabby or Sabrina's family's battle either, as the community came together to help out.

"It was really hard going through that considering you're missing half your family half the time," she said. "It was really nice to see the community around me step in and almost act like shift parents. Everybody was super kind and giving and I think that really helped our family a lot."

Seeing her sister go through what she did, it made her more appreciative of life and who all helped her and her family through the journey.

"It made me more of a grateful person because it shows that everyone around you is good and does want to help out," she said. "Not only did it make me stronger, but it also made everybody around me stronger as well."

After everything McCarter and her family went through during the years involving Gabby, the family received long-awaited news.

It was announced that Gabby was cancer free.

"It was 2022 or 2023 when I found out she was cancer free. It was the best news ever," Sabrina said.

The night is extra special and meaningful for Hemperley, as not only is it the annual 'Fork Cancer' game, but it is also her mother, DeAnne Hemperley's birthday.

DeAnne was diagnosed with 3D breast cancer toward the end of Kendall's sophomore year of high school.

DeAnne did 16 rounds of chemo and 40 rounds of radiation. Kendall stated that she was her mother's nurse for about a year and a half because she had d'flap reconstruction, which Kendall explained is a hip-to-hip incision.

But dealing with something like that drew Kendall even closer to her mother.

"It made my mom and me become best friends," Kendall said. "We got very close during that time—and still are very close. I even spent one of my Homecomings getting ready in a hospital room."

During the time when her mother was sick, Kendall would go on drives, listen to music or play soccer as an escape.

"The only time I didn't think about it was while playing soccer," she said. "Soccer was the one stable thing in my life, at that time. It was basically an escape."

As a freshman, Hemperley has played in all 13 games for the Demons so far, including nine starts. She scored her first collegiate goal in NSU's 7-0 win at Mississippi Valley State on Aug. 31 and is third in shot attempts (21) and second in shots on goal (10) on the team.

As an aspiring nurse and daughter of a nurse, Hemperley had hands-on experience working with her mother often, as well as helping her younger siblings, during DeAnne's battle.

"My mom is a nurse and being a nurse, I think helped with the whole process," Kendall said. "She knows certain things and to ask about certain things and I want to be a nurse when I get older. So, her going through this kind of helped my future. I am going into college with a lot of knowledge that a lot of freshmen don't have, wanting to be a nurse."

Hemperley said that while her mother is now breast cancer free, she mentioned that since it is metastatic, she doesn't know if it will pop up in other areas.

While McCarter and Hemperley have dealt with different family member cancer experiences, they both look at life a bit differently now than they did before the cancer diagnosis of their family members.

After seeing their family go through those, nothing can phase them, and they have learned, as cliché' as it may be, to take life day by day.

"Seeing her go through that and struggle to even stay alive, it definitely taught me that there are very important things in life," Hemperley said. "It also taught me to take each day, day-by-day, and not to worry about the little things in life."