LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kyler Buckner wanted to be a police officer. So one day in February 2020, the Jeffersontown Police Department made him chief for a day.
An officer rushed to his door, saying, “Kyler we need your help,” whisking him off to the station where the mayor swore him in with a proclamation. He received a police shirt, hat and badge, toured the station and even got to work through a mock crime scene with his older brother right by his side playing the role as assistant chief.
“Thank you,” Kyler said in a soft voice as joy beamed from his bright blue eyes.
No doubt, this was a good day for an 8-year-old little boy who had few left.
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma
Kyler suffered from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare pediatric cancer where a tumor spiders over the brain stem, making it inoperable. It’s the same disease that killed Neil Armstrong’s daughter, Karen, in 1962, and there’s been little to no advancement in the way it’s treated. Experts said roughly 300 kids per year are diagnosed with DIPG, and the outcome is always the same, with an average life expectancy of less than a year after diagnosis.
Kyler Buckner
Kyler died in March 2020. He made it 16 months.
A couple weeks before Mother’s Day, Kyler’s mom packed just a few of his things, recalling the way doctors explained the battle Kyler would face.
“It's like a 'go make memories' type of disease, because there is no cure,” Kristen Mackin said.
She held tight to yellow hospital socks, remembering how Kyler loved free stuff from the hospital. She grabbed a bright pink hospital gown with the word brave written on it and put it in the box too and the police shirt her son received a year earlier on one of the memory making days when he was Jeffersontown’s police chief.
There were tougher memories too, like chemo and radiation and trips to California for experimental treatments and two medical trials.
“With DIPG, for me, it kind of feels like I lost him twice,” Mackin said. “When we reached progression, he wasn't able to stand or walk independently. He wasn't able to eat. His speech went away.”
But most all she remembers the end.
“I held him in my arms when he took his last breath,” Mackin said, tears rolling down her face. “I gave him a bath because it’s just what a mom would do. I just really love my child and I just really miss him. He was so funny and so witty, and I miss his jokes and his silliness. I miss his kindness and his caring. He was the soul of all of us, and it’s just hard."
Memory Blankets
Tara Coombs understand the plight and pain of families hit by pediatric cancer. Her son, Owen, lost a kidney to Wilms tumor at 3 years old, but he survived.
“We were hit very hard financially and very hard mentally, “ Coombs said. "It takes a real toll on families.”
Those families stay on Coombs mind as she works stitching and cutting fabrics in her basement sometimes 12 hours a day.
She’s not a designer or a seamstress or a tailor. Coombs is a mom on a mission to mend broken hearts. She uses old clothes, sheets and toys to patch together special quilts. Every square connects a memory for a family buried in grief.
“The most important thing you get on any shirt is the stains,” Coombs said as she began to pull items from a box she received from Mackin to begin making Kyler’s blanket. “They're not going to make those stains again.”
Coombs said each quilt takes about 16 hours. She launched her effort in January, connecting with families on TikTok, and already has 350,000 followers and 800 people on a waiting list to get a blanket made.
She works endlessly from the basement of her Oldham County home, and she never charges a dime.
“These are their kids' clothes, and these kids aren't here anymore," Coombs said. "Those aren't going to make any more memories. I just feel like I want to bring some type of comfort to the parents, and I really like doing it.”
Coombs said every stich has purpose, and every cut has meaning, hoping her blanket campaign brings more attention to funding research for pediatric cancer.
“It only gets 4% of the research money. Four percent. "That’s not enough,” she said. "My life goal is to get more childhood funding for cancer. That's it, my whole life.”
Coombs launched a petition to help the effort with a goal of getting it to the desk of the president. That will take some time and work beyond her control, but in the meantime, she can continue to work for families like Kyler’s.
Coombs returned four memory blankets to Mackin on Mother’s Day weekend: one for her and Kyler's dad as well as both of his siblings.
Mackin sobbed as she touched each square seeing the yellow socks, pink gown and police shirt sewn into patches.
Tara Coombs presents Kristen Mackin with the blanket honoring her late son, Kyler.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. I love it, “ Mackin said. "It's like all of these shirts are special moments for Kyler.”
The two moms embraced, both in tears. Perhaps the memories that matter most are the ones we feel like love laughter and loss. These are the memories that are sewn into the fabric of our soul.
CLICK HERE to request a memory blanket for a child who has passed away and information on how to sponsor Coombs with materials or monetary donations.
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