One of our favorite One Spark Creators that we had a chance to speak with was Craig Riley, the Founder of Kid Keemo. Kid Keemo was created to “make kids with cancer feel normal again.”1 Kid Keemo is actually the character that you see above. Kid Keemo is a part of the Med Gown Gang – a bunch of different characters who personify different aspects of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.
Kid Keemo is an incredibly personal endeavor for Riley:
For my family and I, this is a very personal cause. I created the character Kid Keemo as a way to cheer up my nephew, Sean, during his battle with childhood cancer. Kid Keemo was actually the nickname I gave Sean as he underwent chemotherapy. We would joke that one day Kid Keemo would travel the world touring with Kid Rock…or possibly Motley Crue…or maybe Rick Springfield as a very last resort. Sadly, Sean passed away in 2007 after a long struggle with cancer, barely one month shy of his 17th birthday. Since then I have worked on this project in the hopes that all kids with cancer can have a heroic character to identify with as they undergo the challenges of chemotherapy.2
It was a real pleasure to speak with Riley and the whole Kid Keemo team. It is easy to get bogged down in the tech news cycle, and it is refreshing to see people undertaking very real and serious initiatives. We wish the Kid Keemo team continued success with their endeavor. For more info, head over to KidKeemo.com and say hello on the Kid Keemo Facebook page:
