Kyle's Story
Miraculous is a word often associated with our son's life. Many described him as angelic. He could also be stubborn and mischievous. Kyle was very human, but there was something special about him.


Kyle's life was special from the beginning. My wife Carol and I were told that we would not be able to have children. He arrived ten and a half years after we were married. Even his doctor admitted that there was no way to explain Carol's fertility. We cherished our “little guy”! He had colic and could be a handful, but he was our miracle baby.

He also brought us joy during a difficult time in our lives. We had recently moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to San Diego County. Our immediate family was far away and I was serving as a pastor of a small 4 year old church. The church was struggling financially and during our first year, Carol's mother survived a bout with cancer, my aunt died at only 46, my two grandmothers died a week apart from one another and our church ran out of money. We were able to raise the money to keep the church going and celebrated with a big Christmas party at our home.

Kyle began feeling poorly the next day. On December 20, 1996, Kyle was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He was only 22 months old. Our daughter Connie was born the next month. The world had turned upside-down for our family. Connie came out of her mother's womb smiling. She is an incredibly high-spirited little girl and became an encouragement to all of us.

Kyle loved his little sister and their times together were treasured though they often took place at San Diego Children's Hospital. Connie would actually sleep in a playpen in his room on occasion. I missed much work and the financial uncertainty soon resurfaced. Kyle seemed to take most of it in stride until that May. During that month, he had the first of 3 life threatening seizures. He went “code blue” during the first seizure and spiked a 107.9 fever during the last one. Four cancer kids visited ICU that summer. Kyle was there for all three seizures. Of the four children, only Kyle survived.

He was left with brain damage, but even that dissipated when they took a second MRI. His biggest struggle was with his coordination and with the lethargy produced by his seizure medicine. Our little church love us and tried to help, but they could only do so much. Financially we were on the brink of losing everything when we finally closed the church and helped our people relocate to other churches in our community. I took a position working with children's ministries at the larger Seacoast Community Church in Encinitas where I now serve as a Pastor of Outreach. Before our move to Seacoast, Carol's grandfather died. I spoke at the memorial service and then ended up in a hospital. I was basically suffering from exhaustion. Many parents also fall apart under such pressure. A high percentage of them divorce. By God's grace, we stayed together and our marriage and family grew closer as we learned to value and depend more on each other.When Kyle was 5 years old, we were told that he had a 98% chance not to ever have leukemia again. We were ecstatic! Kyle was off of all medication and it was a season of celebration. Unfortunately, Connie was diagnosed with systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis four months later. The roles changed and he became a caregiver for his sister for the painful months that followed.We still tried to do things for Kyle.

Make-A-Wish has a program where children can go to batting practice with Ryan Klesko of the San Diego Padres and then watch a game. I took Kyle and he had a blast. He was not that interested in baseball yet, but he really liked Ryan and his teammates. He did not see them as celebrity ballplayers, but as “nice guys”. He had a particularly good rapport with Ryan. Kyle also fell in love with baseball during that first game. Whenever he attended a game, his attention was riveted on it until it ended. He especially cheered for Ryan Klesko.Life seemed to be turning in the right direction for us by the end of 2001. Kyle did well playing soccer and was in first grade. Connie responded to a new medication called Enbrel and appears to be healed from her arthritis. It has been over about 4 and a half years and she has not relapsed.

In early 2002, Kyle began to serve as an “honored teammate” for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program (TNT), where people run marathons to raise money to fight cancer. We were scheduled to go to Disney World for his Make-A-Wish. His 7th birthday was March 4th, a week before our trip. He agreed to have a birthday dinner to raise money for a TNT participant at his favorite restaurant, Pat and Oscar's. A large crowd came that night, but Kyle did not make it. He ended up in the hospital and was diagnosed with a relapse of leukemia the next day. A friend of ours had given us a Padres Magazine from the last season. It had a great picture of Ryan and Kyle sitting in the dugout. Another friend encouraged us to contact the Padres and ask for a full-sized photograph for our son since he had recently relapsed with cancer. I contacted the Padres and they were much kinder than we expected. They sent the picture with Ryan's autograph. We also received signed baseball cards from most of the players and a teddy bear with a Padres' jersey. Kyle was overjoyed!

That summer, we again attended batting practice with Ryan Klesko. This time, Ryan knew who we were right away. He talked some with Kyle and I gave him a letter of thanks from our family. He took it back to the dugout and then returned with a paper and pen. He asked for our phone number. We didn't expect much since he is so busy, but he actually began to call Kyle and a friendship between the two was forged.Kyle endured an incredible amount of suffering over the two and a half years of treatment that followed his relapse. We also went to Disney World and did many other fun things. Yet, some of the most enjoyable times were just being with him. Kyle had a gentle spirit, but a very direct way of asking questions. He was a deep thinker and the philosopher of our family. He wanted to know about everything. He was a connoisseur of food and even watched cooking shows with his mother. He loved Ryan and sports. He loved to wrestle. He loved music and had an eclectic taste in it. He loved to use his vivid imagination. He was a master builder of Legos and quite adept at Nintendo, which he played in the hospital. He loved old TV shows. He loved to do art and crafts and he was fascinated by science. He knew more about animals than Carol and I. His favorite was the cheetah. He loved to read and be read to. He loved friends and family.

Most of all, he loved Jesus and talked often of heaven. His relationship with Jesus was real. His prayers were practical, to the point, and part of his life. He would always end his nightly prayers with, “I love you God with all of my heart, all of my strength and all of my soul!” He sang songs like an angel, though he frequently forgot or made up the words. He read several different children's Bibles and asked deep theological questions. He also had insights that surprised us. When he was first told that he was probably going to die, he said that he didn't want to die, but he knew it would be better for him. He only wished we could go with him. He didn't want anyone to be sad for him.Kyle courageously continued his battle and continued to defy the odds.

People began to call him a “legend” at the hospital. He was friends with everyone there and everyone loved his dry wit and sweet smile. He was a thoughtful boy who deeply cared about others. His sensitivity toward others was amazing. He talked with his eyes and more than once sensed an adult was hurting, grabbed their hand, looked them in the eyes and brought them to the brink of tears. One nurse said he was the shepherd of his flock in the hospital. One older boy would only let Kyle visit him after a serious surgery, and the younger ones looked up to him. I once found a father crying in a hallway over my son. He had just heard Kyle was going to die and it was painful news because Kyle had been such an inspiration to his child and him.Kyle was still in good physical shape and even had a well-matched cord blood for a stem cell transplant, but he just couldn't keep in remission.

Finally, he was told that there was nothing else they could do. They could keep him alive longer with chemotherapy, but he would eventually be incontinent, unable to walk and unable to talk. He said he didn't want to die but was ready for heaven. He chose to go off chemotherapy, take pain medication and enjoy his last 6 weeks.The next day we went down on the field with Ryan and the Padres before the game and watched it with Ryan's girlfriend Kelly and his close friend Christian Kelly. Kelly and Christian had already become good friends of ours too. The kids loved them.

Christian broke his back in college football and after several surgeries, he still suffers pain. He later told us that Kyle inspired him more than any other human being. It was this inspiration that led to the formation of the Blue Ryno Foundation that Christian operates with Ryan. After the game, we went to Ryan's house to celebrate his dad's birthday party with family and friends. His sister Pam then got us tickets to go to Disneyland the next day. She works there as a nurse. This time the church insisted that I not work. They paid for us to travel to Northern California to see family since that was what Kyle most wanted to do. My father retired on a farm near Sacramento and Kyle was determined to be a farmer. When we returned, I found that members of our church had done a “mini-makeover” in our yard. Carol had been in on it and had helped them figure out what to do. We also had a great insurance advocate who helped us tremendously with our insurance company.

This had practically become a part-time job for Carol and we had witnessed how insurance companies victimized the parents of other ill children as well. We did a number of other fun things too. Finally, Kyle was told that he had only about 2 weeks left. He said that if he could just go home, play games, watch television and go to sleep that would be fine. Family traveled to say good-bye and Ryan, Kelly and Christian came too. Ryan sat on the couch with Kyle for about 20 minutes. They each said they loved the other, gave a hug and said good-bye for the last time on earth. A couple days later, after playing cards until later than usual that night, Kyle slipped into a coma. He could still hear us and would squeeze our hands to let us know it. At one point, he grabbed Carol, Connie and my hand and pulled them up to his chest. He would also breathe heavier on the telephone for others to hear him. He did not show the typical fear or agitation of someone in such a state. His Hospice nurse said she had never seen a child respond to death so peacefully and courageously. She is now running in his memory. Kyle moved to heaven on August 26, 2004.

A father and friend at Children's later told me that the whole department was in mourning when the news got out. It was as if a famous person had died. Often we think that the greatest of miracles are found when one survives an illness against all odds. Kyle actually had some miracles along those lines, but his greatest miracle may have come with his death. The impact he had was far greater than anything we ever imagined. Over 700 people came to this nine and a half year old boy's memorial. A fire department he befriended attended and the Padres sent balloons and representatives. A tree was planted in his memory at our church. A star in a mural has his name on it at his public school. They also had a memorial service for him on his birthday and a plaque with his picture is on a hallway wall. A library at a small school in Nicaragua is named after him and a book called Heaven by our friend Randy Alcorn, lists his name on the dedication page.

And now the Blue Ryno Foundation has been formed to care for those whom he most cared about. It is all part of his legacy. In a sense, the Blue Ryno Foundation is just another of the miracles that we associate with Kyle's life.