River of love for Kyle B as he fights for his life

Hahnville High School senior’s brave battle continues as his mom seeks an honorary diploma – & hopes for the best

Prayers, cards, blood donations and money continue to pour in for cancer-stricken teenager Kyle Bergeron on the heels of the Herald-Guide’s dramatic front page story, Only a miracle can save Kyle Bergeron, in our Dec. 14 edition.Prayers, cards, blood donations and money continue to pour in for cancer-stricken teenager Kyle Bergeron on the heels of the Herald-Guide’s dramatic front page story, Only a miracle can save Kyle Bergeron, in our Dec. 14 edition.

Students, parents, friends, neighbors – even people from outside the parish who had never even heard of the Kyle – have responded to the family’s appeal for people to pray for the miracle that a doctor says is the only thing that will save the courageous young man’s life.

And even though a hoped-for trip to New York City to see a Broadway play with help from the Make A Wish Foundation fell through, Kyle, 18, still got one wish in the past week – a trip to Gulfport, Mississippi and the seaside he loves.

High school diploma still in question

But even as good things happen for Kyle, questions remain. First and foremost, will he get the miracle that will eradicate the leukemia that has all but eaten him alive since he first began to feel ill in 2005.

Other questions that aren’t quite so big but still are important also are up in the air.

Kyle, who has been schooled at home while fighting for his life for 18 hellish months, is worried that he might not get to graduate high school with Logan Bergeron, his twin brother.

To ease his mind, Vicki Bergeron, their mother, has appealed in writing to St. Charles Parish Schools to give her son an honorary diploma to recognize his academic accomplishments.

They include completing all classes but one, an English course, that would enable him to get a full-fledged diploma under the school system’s homebound schooling program.

Wheels of bureaucracy are turning – but time is short

Felicia Gomez assistant superintendent of secondary schools curriculum instruction and assessment, says the district is waiting to receive the letter that was sent via certified mail on Dec. 18.

“Once we get the letter we will began to look into it,” Gomez says.

Meg Casper, public relations director of the Louisiana Department of Education, says a waiver form must be completed by the school district and then reviewed by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education before the request can be granted.

Kyle’s mother says: “I am worried that Kyle won’t get it, he’s worked so hard for this diploma, even when he wasn’t always feeling well.”

Casper says that once the appropriate documents are turned in for Bergeron the state board will review them.

“With the holidays approaching and people taking vacations it is going to be difficult to get the board together,” she told the Herald-Guide.

“They are not scheduled to meet again until the middle of January.”

Dr. Tammy Singleton told the Herald-Guide that without a miracle, Kyle has just a short while to live.