“Purdue people look out for each other”

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

Talk about heart. A young patient at Riley Hospital for Children needs a new one, and a college coach just showed how big his own heart is.

It started as a comment from one Purdue University basketball fan to another. It grew to include Boilermaker coach Matt Painter and a sick 12-year-old waiting for a heart transplant.

Riley cardiologist Dr. John J. Parent, himself a Purdue grad, has known Bryce Lakin since his patient was just a few days old. Bryce was born with complicated heart conditions, including single ventricle anatomy, and has already had three open heart surgeries – the first one at 6 days old – all performed by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Mark Turrentine.

Recently, Bryce’s heart began failing, and he was listed for transplant last month. He was admitted to Riley on July 31 and will remain there until a donor heart is found, a wait that can take months or longer.

“We knew transplant was going to be in his future,” Dr. Parent said, adding that Bryce himself recently told the cardiologist he thought it was time.

What Dr. Parent also knew was that Bryce and his dad – his entire family really – were huge Purdue fans. Jeff Lakin earned a degree in crop and soil management from Purdue and has held season tickets to Purdue basketball games for the past 20 years. Bryce and his sister have gone to games with their dad for years.

The family lives in Rensselaer, Indiana, about 40 minutes from West Lafayette.

Dr. Parent knew Bryce was disappointed at having to spend so much time in the hospital. He was missing out on seeing his friends at school and showing his pigs at the fair. And he had to celebrate his 12^th birthday at Riley.

The physician had an idea and got the ball rolling. After clearing it with Bryce’s parents, he reached out to a Purdue basketball representative and asked if there was anything the team could do to lift the boy’s spirits.

How about a lengthy FaceTime call with Coach Painter himself?

That’s what happened two weeks ago, and Bryce is still riding that high.

“We talked for 25 minutes straight basketball,” Bryce said from his hospital bed, surrounded by Purdue blankets, pillows and wall decorations. “He was nice.”

Jeff Lakin was with Bryce during that call. He and his wife, Laura, split time with Bryce through the week so they can continue working and caring for Bryce’s two sisters.

Lakin will never get over the joy Painter brought to his son.

“It was awesome just listening to them talk,” Lakin said. “Just seeing Bryce’s face, that was probably the happiest he’d been for a while.”

The two discussed what Painter looks for in players and in individuals, game strategy, new recruits, what Purdue means to him and who Bryce’s favorite player is/was. (That would be Braden Smith, for the record, who graduated this year and was drafted by the Indiana Pacers.)

“It was a cool experience,” Lakin said. “He really talked basketball with Bryce. It was like listening to him in a press conference.”

Kelly Orr, clinical transplant coordinator, said the coach was “amazing” with Bryce. “It was such blessing to see the joy that those few minutes brought to Bryce and his father.”

Painter said he was glad to do it.

“Purdue people look out for each other,” the coach said this week. “As a program, our respect level for the team at Riley Hospital could not be any higher. We have partnered with them the last few years to auction off shoes for Coaches vs. Cancer, reaching out to patients and helping raise awareness,” he said.

“When Dr. Parent reached out about Bryce and explained how much he loves our team, it was important for me to let him know how many people he has rooting for him,” Painter said.

Talk about heart.

“It’s truly awesome that Coach Painter did that,” Lakin said. “It shows how much he cares.”

Bryce, who has multiple types of therapy every day to maintain his strength, hopes to learn the drums in music therapy while he’s inpatient, though he would like nothing more than to be back on the farm at home, riding in the tractor with his dad.

While he waits, he has his own cheer squad at Riley in the form of his nurses.

“We love Bryce,” said Maddie Baxter and Alex Miller, describing him as fun and funny, with the heart of a champion.

“He has a very old soul,” Miller said. “He’s witty and tries to be as independent as he can be. He’s a strong farm boy.”

Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org