Mar 27, 2024 - 21:11
By huffpost.com

Krystal Anderson, Longtime Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleader, Dies At Age 40

Krystal “Krissy” Anderson, a former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader, has died at age 40 after giving birth to a stillborn child. The cause was sepsis, according to a GoFundMe post for Anderson.

Anderson, of Leawood, Kansas, died on March 20 “shortly after the birth of her daughter, Charlotte Willow Anderson, who was born at rest,” an obituary said.

Anderson received a computer science degree at the University of Richmond and worked as a software engineer who “was awarded a patent for developing software that assesses the risk of post-partum hemorrhage,” according to the obituary.

Anderson’s time with the Chiefs was celebrated in a post by the organization’s official cheerleader Instagram account, Chiefs Cheer. The tribute noted she performed during more than 100 games in 2006-11 and 2013-16.

She “was loved and adored by her teammates, fans, and strangers who were never strangers for long,” the post said.

“After her time as a cheerleader, she continued to share her love of dance and Chiefs Cheer by serving in an alumni role on game day, practices, and at events. We will miss her kind spirit, joyful energy, and her sparkle.”

Her husband, Clayton Anderson, told Fox affiliate WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, that her fever spiked a day after the delivery and that the sepsis, a severe reaction to an infection, prompted organ failure. After three failed surgeries, she died shortly after.

“I feel lost,” Clayton Anderson said. “There’s a lot of people in this house and it feels empty.”

In addition to her daughter Charlotte, Krystal Anderson was “preceded in death by her infant son, James Charles,” the obituary stated.