The father of a 16-year-old boy who died less than 24 hours after being diagnosed with leukemia believes his son would have had a better chance of survival if a blood test had been done days earlier when he complained of back pain.
Kenneth Limper told DailyMail.com that his son, Kyle Limper, an honors student and all-around athlete who was captain of his high school football team, a wrestler and track and field star, never missed a day of school and was never sick.
On April 2, he began complaining of back pain, and when home remedies failed to work, Kenneth took him to a medical facility near their home in Philadelphia on April 8, where a doctor gave him a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory drug.
Kenneth claims no blood tests or x-rays were taken.
Kyle Limper died on April 13 less than 24 hours after doctors at St. Christopher’s Children’s Hospital diagnosed him with leukemia
Kyle’s parents, Kenneth and Jodi, were shocked to learn their son was battling cancer and had no idea he was sick
He was selfless’: Family devastated after 16-year-old Pennsylvania teen dies of leukemia within 24 hours of diagnosis following back pain after a basketball game. Kyle’s parents had no idea he was sick
He was taken to a hospital the same day for a second opinion, where two doctors diagnosed him with lower lumbar tension, prescribed Tylenol and told him to put lidocaine on his back and come back if the symptoms got worse.
Kenneth claims doctors again failed to take any blood tests or x-rays.
Less than 72 hours later, Kyle was so weak he could barely stand or get out of bed, so his family called 911.
The once fit student-athlete was rushed to another hospital where a blood test and CT scan revealed he had leukaemia.
His devastated father said Kyle’s kidneys were failing and he had masses all over his lungs.
Kyle went into cardiac arrest and sadly passed away on April 13. Four days after his birthday. On April 9, Easter Sunday, he had just turned 16.
“My son didn’t last 24 hours in the hospital,” Mr. Limper told DailyMail.com.
The grief is crushing. I can barely sleep and when I wake up it starts all over again.
“My son was a beautiful boy. He never got into trouble. He was going to Washington this summer to train with real CSI agents for two weeks. It was a dream for him.’
Kenneth said he remembers his son being on high alert in ICU at one point. He put a cold cloth on his head and told him that he loved him.
“The doctors were doing CPR and chest compressions on him and I was holding his leg and his mom was in the room and we were screaming, come on Kyle,” he recalls.
“We watched our son die before our very eyes. It was cruel,” he said.
“How do you recover from something like that. It’s a crushing sadness… a sick feeling in your abdomen and chest.’
Kenneth described his son as a strong, healthy boy who was never sick. He and Jodi, Kyle’s mom, had no idea their son was sick. Aside from the agonizing back pain he was experiencing, his father said, he had no fever, had an appetite, and looked just like his Kyle.
Looking back, he said he couldn’t help but think that if the hospital or medical facility did more, his son would be here today.
“If you have a 16-year-old complaining of back pain, maybe they should have checked his kidneys,” he said.
“It wasn’t close to a back injury. His kidneys stopped working. If they’d done a blood test, they might have picked up on something and he’d still be with us, but now we’ll never know.”
The medical facility and the first hospital did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment, while a spokesperson for the second hospital told DailyMail.com that they are not releasing patient information.
Kenneth said he and Kyle’s mother had received numerous messages from other parents asking if Kyle had a blood test before he died. He doesn’t recall his son and Kyle’s siblings — Kaitlyn, 21, and Justin, 16 — ever having blood drawn during their annual doctor visits.
They are now urging other parents to ensure their children have blood tests during their annual checkups of their children, believing it could have made a difference to their son’s chances of survival.
“Parents come to us from all over the country,” Kenneth said. “We want to create awareness to have your doctor do a blood test for your child’s annual checkup. You don’t wish this sadness and guilt you feel on anyone.’
Kyle’s heartbroken mother, a cancer survivor in remission, wants everyone to know “how beautiful, talented, kind and loving” her son was.
“He was inspiring and dedicated in everything he did and for everyone in his life. He loved to laugh and bring positivity to you,” Jodi told DailyMail.com.
“He shone so brightly with his generosity and contagious smile. Kyle was pure love and joy. He was my beautiful beetle… my little boy.”
Kyle was a straight A’s honor student. This summer he was going to Washington to study with CSI agents for a special two-week program that one of his teachers had enrolled him in.
According to the PA chapter of The American Academy of Pediatrics, there are national guidelines for healthy children’s checkups that they recommend every few months from birth to age three and then annually until they turn 21.
The checkups examine whether the child is reaching growth and developmental milestones for their age, vision and hearing, and overall health, but they are usually not blood tests, a spokesman said.
A blood test for hemoglobin and lead can be done at ages 1 and 2; total cholesterol once between 9-11 years and again between 17-19 years.
An HIV test is done once during adolescence. Chlamydia and gonorrhea annually in sexually active women and men who have sex with men (urine, no blood test).
Vaccinations are given for childhood illnesses and common conditions that affect children or young adults, such as meningitis and HPV.
Kyle’s parents are still waiting for the results of a bone marrow test to determine what type of cancer he had, but the two most common types in young people are acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In these cancers, white blood cells begin to grow out of control in the body before spreading to blood vessels and vital organs.
Kyle’s cancer most likely developed quickly because it inherits white blood cells’ ability to multiply rapidly, which is only meant to be deployed when they’re fighting infection.
Dr. Arif Kamal, the lead patient of the American Cancer Society, said patients can die from leukemia even within 24 hours of being diagnosed because the cancer grows rapidly and may not be caught until late stages once it has spread.
He said that in some types of leukemia – such as chronic leukemia – patients can have the disease for months or even years without having any symptoms.
“What I’ve seen is someone going in for a physical and they’re fine,” he said.
“But for the next week they don’t feel so good and they come back in and their white blood cell count is through the roof.”
“Could those changes occur in a few days? Absolute.’
Kyle Limper passed away on April 13. Four days after his 16th birthday
Kyle was an outright A honor’s student and that this summer he would be participating in a National Youth Leadership forum for Law and CSI at Columbia University in Washington, DC. A teacher had included him in the program.
His father said that Kyle wanted to join the force and join the FBI or become a CSI agent.
He remembered how much his son loved Batman. “He always wanted to fight the bad guys, even as a kid,” he said. “He wanted to stop all the bad evil in this world by putting all the criminals behind bars so that people could safely live their best lives.”
He added, “That was Kyle always thinking of everyone.”
His son played football at his funeral last Tuesday team huddled around his box and gave a motivating cheer.
“Seeing all those big boys break down and cry… seeing Kyle touch everyone was really moving.
“So many of his friends told me how Kyle got them to lift weights, got them to do better in school, got them to read comic books,” he said.
He said his son was a comic book collector and one of their favorite things to do together was their weekly visits to the comic book store.
‘We went every Sunday. We were in there for hours,” he said. “That’s something I still intend to do.”
He told DailyMail.com that the Kensington Alumni, his son’s soccer team, plans to hold a special soccer game in his honor. And Penn Treaty, his son’s high school, will name the gymnasium after him.
Part of the ceremony will include the hanging of his son’s football jersey – number 35 – which will be signed by all his teammates and his coaches and placed in a glass frame to be presented at an upcoming ceremony at the school.
a GoFundMe has always been created to help the family with support services for Kyle’s family and two siblings. As of Tuesday afternoon, $16,418 has been raised towards their $25,000 goal.