MIDLAND, Mich. — A Muskegon woman and three-time cancer survivor has a new outlook on life after country superstar Jelly Roll rescued her during his concert.
Every dedicated music fan dreams of the day their favorite artist notices them in the crowd of a concert and makes you feel like the only one in the room. At the end of July, Kathi Montalvo experienced that moment at a Jelly Roll concert in Midland.
"He was singing, and all of a sudden, he double took me," she told 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
Her road to that moment, however, was more difficult than most.
"I beat cancer three times. The last time, instead of chemo for my hair, I went through nuclear medicine, the side effects in nuclear is it's eating my soft tissue and organs."
After aggressive treatment, Montalvo explained her esophagus is "melted."
Now, she can't eat or drink. She receives all nutrients and water through bags connected to her body through a port for 17 hours a day. She uses a small sponge to wet her mouth and is terrified of choking.
In December 2023, Montalvo was told she had just three months to live.
"I have been working my butt off to make it to his concert. I was really depressed, crying a lot."
Instead of a bucket list though, Montalvo has what she calls a "to-do list." That's where Jelly Roll comes in.
"I had my IV pole like this because it broke through the mob, and one bag got popped, so I only had one bag, and I was hugging it and I'm short and all of a sudden he went like this, and I knew he had seen me, right there I got the biggest relief, ever. I knew he was coming to save me, because I thought I was going to drop," she said, "I didn't think I was going to make it."
Jelly Roll stopped the concert and asked his crew to pull Montalvo over the barricade and into a chair with some water.
The moment has since gone viral in several TikTok videos.
"No matter what I have time left to do for the rest of it, I got that, I got Jelly Roll, and he noticed me. I'm not invisible," she said.
Montalvo said those few minutes gave her strength she didn't think she'd find again.
"It pumped me up. He took a big breath of air and blew it behind my sail."
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to the superstar's team. Montalvo would love to have him write down one her favorite lyrics so she can get it tattooed on her arm as a reminder to keep fighting.