John and John became best friends through their training and travels with gymnastics. They have combined their passion for the sport and their desire to give back to younger gymnasts by joining forces for Flip Fest.
This summer we had a tragedy in the Flip Fest family. Kassidy Foster, a 12-year-old level 7 gymnast at Virginia Techniques Gymnastics, thought she had some tendonitis in her knee and went to the doctor to find out how to treat it. On Thursday, March 29, 2007 her and her family learned it was not tendonitis but instead osteosarcoma - the most common type of bone cancer. The doctors found cancerous cells on her right femur near the knee and close to her hip. They also found cancerous cells in her chest between her heart and lungs.
She started chemotherapy on April 4th. The doctors expected her to need chemo for about 40 weeks and surgery to replace her femur with a rod. Kassidy battled the cancer head on but on July 16th, at 8:35am, we lost her.
We were honored that the Fosters and their daughter Courtney still chose to come to Flip Fest this year, and although it was a very emotional week it was great to have them here and hopefully we were able to bring some joy into their lives amidst this unexpected tragedy. We have both worked with Kassidy and enjoyed her presence every time we saw her. We want to help make sure that her memory is preserved forever, so in Kassidy’s honor we have created the Kassidy Foster Memorial Scholarship. Every year, in Kassidy’s name, we will provide a scholarship to a camper as long as Flip Fest is in existence. This year we awarded the first Kassidy Foster Memorial Scholarship to her younger sister Courtney Foster. Please visit Kassidy’s website at KassidysPage.com and help Flip Fest and the Fosters preserve Kassidy’s memory forever.