AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — “I literally said to God right then … ‘are you going to take my son away from me and not give me a reason?’,” Kristina Hudson told KAMR Local 4 News.

That was one of the many conversations our Remarkable Woman nominee, Kristina Hudson, had with God after her six-year-old son, Joshua, was diagnosed with leukemia.

“It takes a lot out of you,” Hudson added.

Two years into Joshua’s treatment he relapsed. Despite a series of seizures and blood transfusions Joshua completed his last round of chemo in July of 2005. But something else was weighing heavy on Hudson’s heart.

“We saw a lot of families struggling,” Hudson said.

During this time, Hudson was working at BSA Hospital as a pediatric nurse.

“Any child and family that were struggling that really needed some help the nurses the hospital staff the respiratory therapists would dig into our pockets and pull together money to help the families,” Hudson said.

Hudson wanted to make sure that local families dealing with childhood cancer would never have to struggle financially.

“We decided okay maybe we need to start an organization,” Hudson explained.

What is known today as the Panhandle Angels Foundation did not necessarily take off like Hudson hoped.

“I wasn’t finding a lot of support, I couldn’t, I didn’t know how to get it started I didn’t know… I was driving myself crazy,” Hudson said.

This is where Hudson found herself having another conversation with God.

“Let me tell you, I don’t know how many times I begged god to take this off of my heart,” Hudson said.

Hudson said God had different plans.

For the last 18 years, the foundation has been able to cover the cost of rent, utilities, travel expenses, and medical bills for hundreds of families.

While Hudson has been nominated as one of our Remarkable Women , she told us that it is the remarkable people in her life that needs the recognition.

“God does great things through unremarkable people by putting remarkable people in their world,” Hudson said. “That lifts them up and helps them do the hard thing and helps them keep going.”

In 2018, Hudson retired from nursing but continues to run the Panhandle Angels Foundation.
Today, her son Joshua is a healthy 26-years-old and remains one of the inspirations behind her non-profit work. To learn more about the Panhandle Angels Foundation, click here.