A Mom of Two With Kidney Disease … And the NFL’s Most Inspiring Cheerleader

Photo by New Orleans Saints

Kriste Lewis of Hattiesburg, MS, is the newest addition to the New Orleans Saints’ cheerleading squad, the Saintsations. Though she’s a lifelong fan of the NFL team, her resume doesn’t read like most professional cheerleaders:  She’s a 40-year-old mom of two boys who is living with kidney disease and had no cheering experience. But she wasn’t about to let anything keep her from achieving her dream of cheering for the Saints.

“I went into [the tryout] with the idea that the audition would be a celebration,” Lewis told local newspaper the Hattiesburg American. Though she was never a cheerleader before, Lewis works as a dance instructor and leads fitness classes at her church and decided to simply have fun at the audition. But, to her surprise, she was one of the 36 women chosen for the squad.

“The first audition was a dance audition,” Saintsations director Lesslee Fitzmorris told The American. “None of the judges knew her age and judged her strictly on her presentation and dance ability. “The second phase of the audition process was the professional interview. It was during this phase that Lewis stood out. In the final selection process, it was a unanimous decision to put her on the team.”

For Lewis, who was diagnosed with kidney disease 14 years ago, trying out for the squad served multiple purposes. She reignited her love of dance, which she admitted can falter when you’re teaching other people and not just doing it for fun. And it was something she had wanted to cross off of her bucket list.

“I think too many times we wait too late to start on our bucket lists,” Lewis told the paper. Her kidney disease is genetic and after she watched her own mother’s body reject a kidney transplant, she made the decision to live every day to the fullest. “Today is the day, not tomorrow,” she said in the interview. “Wear your best shoes. Don’t save that bottle of wine. Why are you hoarding that from yourself?”

Although Lewis will soon be spending her days cheering on the Saints, she has three very important cheerleaders of her own – her husband Tim and sons Jake, 14, and Rob, 11. And she says that she now has 35 “younger sisters” in her fellow Saintsations. “Our program encompasses more than just dance and cheer,” Lewis says. “We do a lot of community work and work with children. We understand that we serve as role models for young girls.” And there isn’t a better role model a young girl could ask for than Lewis – someone who lives her life to the fullest and not letting her disease hold her back.