PB child with rare disorder gets Christmas wish, a puppy

By BARBARA ANN HORTON

Staff Writer

Christmas for Kayden Keith arrived a week early this year. The Make-A-Wish Foundation helped Santa Claus Thursday by organizing the delivering of Bella, a 3-month-old chocolate lab puppy, to the 5-year-old Poplar Bluff student.

Kayden was born with Fryn’s syndrome, a rare developmental condition affecting various parts of his body.

A lot of helpers showed up to make certain the puppy arrived safely.

Longtime volunteers Brenda McKnight and JoAnn Pierce with the Make-A-Wish Foundation have been working with Kayden’s family for a while to find the right wish for him.

Michelle Caswell, a teacher at the Poplar Bluff Early Childhood Center, and her therapy dog, Hope, have worked with Kayden two and a half years.

Kayden’s family had planned to use his wish to get equipment for Caswell, but she said, “I would really like to give him Hope” or a dog like Hope.

The school called his family, who agreed to a dog. They contacted Make-A-Wish officials, who concurred.

Caswell and Hope were able to suggest the right gift for Kayden after an incident during one of his sessions.

“Hope calms children, encourages them to talk; she is our school greeter,” Caswell said. “She does bus duty, and recess duty with me. She has also been a real stress reliever for the teachers this year.”

Caswell explains, “with Kayden, she has increased his sensory awareness. Before Hope, he would ignore it when teachers and therapists came into the room. Now, they say ‘Hope is here,’ and he starts looking. When he is restless from lack of sleep, you can place her leash in his hand, and he immediately calms.

“She will get right up in the bed with him. She puts her weight on him when he has seizures almost like a canine weighted blanket.”

Recalling “when Hope first started seeing Kayden, I placed her in a down position on the floor while I worked with him on other stuff,” Caswell said. “She jumped up from the floor and went up to Kayden’s face, something she hadn’t done before.

“I told her ‘no’ and put her back down on the floor. She immediately went back to his face and started licking him. Within seconds, he went into a seizure. When the seizure passed, Kayden turned toward Hope and smiled. Hope immediately laid down on the floor. Her work was done.”

Caswell teaches an integrated classroom at the Poplar Bluff Early Childhood Center with children of mixed abilities.

“I have 19 students between the two sessions,” Caswell said. “I have two students that I do home bound with outside of school hours.”

McKnight and Pierce volunteer because they “love the kids, and it is a rewarding opportunity.”

Pierce explained often the gifts offer a release from the family’s everyday life, which is filled with tension and stress.

Kayden and his mother, Brooke, live with his grandmother, Lisa Richmann, and great-grandparents, Ivan and Donna Richmann.

Lisa said when her grandson was born, doctors said, he wouldn’t survive the night. More than five years later, Kayden continues to prove them wrong. The tight-knit family’s lives revolve around Kayden.

In most cases, babies with Fryn’s die before birth or in early infancy. Despite research and never-ending obstacles, Kayden moves forward.

Anyone who would like to volunteer with Make-A-Wish or who knows of a child with a life threatening condition who would benefit from the foundation’s help, may go to the makeawish.org to learn more.