Different, but not over: Accomplished Crystal Lake native won’t let brain tumor, impaired vision stop her

In an old Northwest Herald clipping that her parents hung onto, young Crystal Lake gymnast Chelsey Kivland shared her hopes of winning the Nobel Peace Prize and pursuing civil rights as a lawyer.

More than 20 years later, Kivland has gone on to become a scholar, author, humanitarian, documentary film director and Ivy League professor who focuses on Haiti. Her career has come with plenty of challenges, from starting a teaching job in the Bronx of New York City days after the 9/11 attacks to going missing for days after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2010.

Now, at 44 and the mother of two young sons, Hank and Desmond, she’s facing a very different challenge: coping with a brain tumor that is sitting on her optic nerve and has dramatically impaired her vision. Kivland, who now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, was diagnosed last year, leading to a long and “rocky” road of cognitive recovery, her older sister Kelly Kivland said. Despite the challenges, Chelsey Kivland’s recovery has been “incredible” as she aims to get back to teaching and finishing her second book, her sister said.

“Everything is different, for sure,” Chelsey said. “But it’s not over.”

Her second book, “A Dream Deported: Race, Crime, and Deportation in Transnational Haiti,” explores the impacts of criminal deportation through the lens of people who went through or are going through the deportation process. Chelsey, who speaks fluent Haitian Creole and is an associate professor at Dartmouth College, has been studying and working as an anthropologist in Haiti since 2006. She was always drawn to the country because of the resilient people as the country faces multiple struggles after gaining independence.

Ever since she can remember, Chelsey wanted to help rectify inequality, she said. At first, she wanted to be a civil rights attorney, but then she realized she belonged somewhere doing more hands-on work that directly helped others.

Chelsey has many projects in mind for the future, including being inspired by her own struggles to study how blindness is perceived across different cultures.

“I have not built the types of collaborations that I think are in store for me and others in the future,” she said.

Her mother, Cynthia Kivland, said Chelsey “doesn’t accept things as they are. She sees what they can be, and then she acts on it.”

Now, she’s applying that to her medical challenges. Cynthia describes her daughter’s recovery as filled with “perseverance, resilience and grit with a lot grace.” Chelsey hopes her story can raise awareness on how adults who lose vision recalibrate their lives and continue their careers.

“There’s moments of great optimism where I’m like, ‘OK, this is a blessing. I get to see the world in a new way,’” Chelsey said. “But, this isn’t exactly how I want to see the world.”

Her mother hopes she will someday write a book of all her experiences and accomplishments, from teaching in the Bronx to the earthquake in Haiti.

“There’s going to be this before-and-after, and we’re getting used to the after,” Cynthia said. “We’re all going through the grief of the before and the acceptance of where we’re at now. I’m more hopeful now.”

Chelsey has touched countless lives, her mother said, with some examples that she’s seen only by chance. She remembers walking through Times Square with her daughter when a bunch of previous students started calling out “Miss Kivland!” and ran to her to brag about the good grades they’d received. Another time, Cynthia was sitting in a shuttle van on the way to visit Chelsey in the hospital, and the driver said he was from Haiti.

“He pulled over the van. Screeched. And he said, ‘Your daughter is Miss Chelsey? She’s a queen. She’s a goddess in Haiti. We love her,’” she said.

And Chelsey said her expertise on Haiti is needed, which became apparent with misinformation about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, spreading and making headlines.

“What would it take to have the opposite agenda or the opposite feelings about Haiti?” she said. “To treat Haitians and the Haitian Republic as a partner in democracy and defining the government that we want for ourselves, and not being about demonizing others because of their racial identity.”

Chelsey’s father, Michael Kivland, describes his daughter as an incredible listener who immediately makes impressions on people.

“She just doesn’t hear what you say, she’s listening,” he said. “You don’t run into people like that all the time. They are very few and far in between.”

Her younger brother, Michael, who owns McHenry-based Heady Cup Coffee Roasters, describes Chelsey as smart, strong and respectable. They talk “every day,” and he always aims to keep her optimistic as she regains her independence and aims to get back to teaching.

“She’s my hero in a lot of ways,” he said. “The girl’s got a heart of gold.”

Kelly hopes Chelsey will inspire others and give comfort to those going through similar illnesses while advocating for better brain tumor and injury care and health care costs.

“It’s just a new journey,” Kelly said. “Advocacy for that, I hope, will inspire others – or at least give others a great amount of encouragement.”

Her family created a GoFundMe last year to help pay for medical costs that include around-the-clock nursing care. The online fundraiser has collected almost $58,000 of its $80,000 goal. Anyone looking to help the Kivland family can donate here: gofundme.com/f/chelseys-family-and-home-health-care. Kivland also encourages people to donate to organizations that advocate for research and better treatment for brain tumors and Haitian organizations such as the Fonkoze Foundation.

As for Chelsey’s childhood dream of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, she’d still love to achieve it, but her biggest dream is to make the world a better place to live – with or without the prize.

“I’m at a point in my life where I realize the competition is quite stiff,” she said. “I understand if that weren’t to happen, that doesn’t mean I’m not successful in what I’m doing.”