Says that father helped him reach record time
Luke Haley, 12, should have been ecstatic after finishing with the second-fastest time in the country for 12-year-old boys in the 50-yard butterfly. Instead, his coach T.J. Natal said that Luke came out of the pool on Dec. 6 looking a little disappointed.
When his mother, Leslie, asked him what was wrong, Luke said that the race wasn’t fair.
She didn’t understand until he added that it was unfair because his father was helping him.
Luke’s father, Kyle Haley, passed away in October at the age of 51 after suffering a heart attack. But that wasn’t the only recent set back for the young swimmer. A year earlier, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Family friend Aimee Tamplain said that seeing the family together after Leslie was diagnosed made it obvious how close and supportive the Haley family was.
“My most vivid memory is of Leslie at the state meet with her chemotherapy feeder attached to her so she could still watch Luke swim,” Tamplain said.
The Haleys, who live in Luling, were sticking together and Leslie was fighting the cancer.
Then, Kyle’s death made the family’s year much more difficult.
“This past October, I went in for some more surgery. While I was in the hospital, my husband died. Luke found him,” Leslie said. “(Luke) and his dad were really close. It’s been really hard on him.”
Leslie, Luke and his siblings, Deanna, Nathan and Taylor, are coping as best they can.
Luke is putting all of his energy back into the pool.
“Swimming just helps me to get my mind off of stuff,” Luke said.
Luke has been swimming competitively with the Elmwood Sharks swim team since he was 7 years old. Besides placing second in the country in the 50-yard butterfly, he also placed in the country’s top 20 in three other events.
Those achievements led to him being named the Louisiana Swimmer of the Year, an honor which coaches from all over the state voted on.
His next plans are to try to place in the 50-yard freestyle and to try to get a swimming scholarship in the future.
Leslie said Luke is within 10 seconds of breaking state records in multiple events and that he practices at least four times each week.
“He’s very competitive. When he gets in the water, he wants to win,” she said.
Photographer Jeff Richards has photographed Luke during swim meets throughout 2009 and can’t believe how well he is dealing with the struggle his family is going through right now.
“He’s had a very challenging year. I was absolutely shocked that he had the capacity to put forth the performance that he put forth in the swim meet,” Richards said. “I think the sport right now is probably doing a lot for him. I think it’s keeping him moving forward and helping him deal with grief issues and move on with his life.”
Natal said he was also impressed with the way Luke has handled the difficult year his family has been dealt.
“I remember that in the first couple of months I was working with him (5 years ago), he was probably the biggest pain in the butt ever,” Natal said. “He just had so much energy; he was always bouncing off the walls, but not in a bad way.”
Natal said he’s seen a significant difference in Luke’s motivation in the past few months.
“He’s definitely one of the kids that I would say is one of the leaders on my team,” Natal said. “He’s always pushing himself. He’s one of the toughest kids I’ve seen.”
A fund has been set up to help with the Haley family’s future expenses at Chase Bank, 8923 Veterans Blvd. in Metairie. Contact Dan Russo at the bank by calling (504)465-8337 to donate or you can mail or drop off a donation directly to this specific branch of Chase Bank. Please make checks payable to “Haley Family Fund.”
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