Kenny Brooks' wife, Chrissy, is cancer free, and the power of prayer helped him through 'the hardest year of my life'

Chrissy Brooks, the wife of Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023. On Thursday inside Historic Memorial Coliseum, it was announced that Chrissy had rung that bell — she had beaten that wicked, awful disease that is cancer.

For Kenny, it’s been the hardest year of his life. A lot has happened, both personally and professionally. Brooks touched on that following the Texas game.

Kenny Brooks talks about his wife, Chrissy, being cancer free and how the power of prayer helped him during the hardest year of his life. pic.twitter.com/pzNzvNzlBv

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“It really puts it into perspective,” Brooks explained. “This last year has been a hardest year of my life, and to be able to watch my wife walk out there, and when they said that she rung the bell on May the 24th — it puts everything into perspective, because she’s fought. [She’s] the strongest person that I know, and I also know that we didn’t get to this by ourselves.”

Brooks gives credit to the power of prayer — how everyone in his life, from those close and personal to him to the Big Blue Nation, have helped him during dark times.

“The power of prayer. She and I kept it to ourselves throughout the basketball season last year, and we finally told people,” Brooks noted. “When we told people, it was the biggest weight lifted off my shoulder because so many people helped us, and they prayed for us, and they helped us get through it. So, nights like tonight, when you know what you’ve gone through, and you know how you’ve gotten through it because of other people, and to be able to bring awareness to this nasty disease, and that’s what Vic [Schaefer] and I talked about. He has a son who he almost lost, and nights like tonight, really puts things in perspective and know that you can’t do it by yourself, and that you have so many people that are helping you.”

“The University of Kentucky has been great to me,” Brooks added. “I love it when people come up to me, before they even ask me anything about basketball, they’ll ask me how my wife’s doing, and that means everything because family’s first. Tonight’s special.”

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