Caitlin Clark shows love as Iowa mourns the tragic death of 12yo Krysty Bujakowska

By Orlando Silva

Modified Nov 22, 2024 15:55 GMT

On Friday, Caitlin Clark showed love after learning the news of Iowa Hawkeyes women's team kid captain Krysty Bujakowska dying at 12. The team's official Instagram account shared a heartfelt message to say goodbye to the girl, who was getting treated for an aggressive type of bone cancer at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.

"Our Kid Captain. 🫶 We are forever grateful you are a part of our team. They say we changed the game, but the truth is, you changed us. Rest in peace, sweet Krysty. We love you," they captioned the post.

Clark shared the post on her Instagram story, adding six white heart emojis.

@caitlinclark22 - Instagram story

Krysty Byjakowska was named the honorary kid captain at Iowa's "Crossover at Kinnick" game on Oct. 15. Coach Jan Jensen had announced the news to her parents before the duel. This was great news for everybody involved in the game, including the players.

Doctor David Dickens, who treated Krysty's disease, said last year that the kid remained in good spirits despite going through a rough challenge early in her life.

“Despite all this, Krysty remains a positive and kind child who spreads joy wherever she goes,” Dickens said, per Iowa's website.

Her mother, Kate, shared that Krysty was happy after receiving the honor of being Kid Captain.

"She’s very excited,” Kate says, as posted by the University of Iowa Athletics website. “After all of this bad news, she got something really positive to stay with her forever and keep us going.”

Caitlin Clark's ex-teammates met with Krysty Bujakowska weeks before her death

At the end of October, Jan Jensen took pictures hugging Krysty while stars Kylie Feuerbach, Hannah Stuelke, Jada Gyamfi and others posed with her.

"Bigger than basketball. We love you, Krysty! 🫶" they wrote as caption.

Even Kate Martin shared the post on her Instagram stories, adding an emoji with hearts. It was clear that the Hawkeyes developed a close relationship with Krysty and this loss has affected them.

Caitlin Clark has remained linked with everything happening around the program, including the bad news. On Sunday, she reunited with Lisa Bluder ahead of Iowa's 86-73 win over Drake.

Addison O'Grady showed the way with 27 points while Lucy Olsen added 18 and Hannah Stuelke 16. They returned to the court on Wednesday, beating the Kansas Jayhawks 71-58 after Stuelke and Olsen scored 16 points each. The Hawkeyes boast a 5-0 record to start the season, looking strong even after Caitlin Clark's departure.