Home is where the heart is

At first glance, Kevyns Luthy looks like your average teenager.

He likes playing outside, hanging with friends and avoiding homework. He's shy, but funny. Quiet, but engaging. Polite, but sarcastic. However, under his brown leather jacket are signs that he's anything but average. His chest shows the scars of eight surgeries he's had over the past 16 years to fix his heart.

There were the four in France. The one in Utah. The one for the pacemaker. And then the big one — the complete heart transplant — in November of last year.

But ironically, it's his parents who suffer most from a broken heart.

'It's just so hard to sit there and watch your child go through something like this,' Kevyns' dad, John says, while holding his 2-year-old daughter, Élodie. His mother, Valérie, agrees: 'He's just a boy. He shouldn't have to be going through this.'

Kevyns was born with a heart defect — dextrocardia, the doctors call it — such that his heart didn't pump blood to the body properly. As a result, he's probably spent more of his life in hospitals than out of them. But somehow, it doesn't seem to get him down.

'This is just the way it is,' he says. 'I've been doing it so long it's not really a big deal. Sure, there's days when you just want to say, ‘I quit,' but you can't quit. Because then you'll end up right where you didn't want to go in the first place.'

Kevyns' story is one of many that echo within the walls of the Ronald McDonald House on Gadsden Street. It's an often forgotten yet highly integral part in the entire hospital-stay process. It provides out-of-town families with a place to sleep, eat and most importantly be surrounded by other families going through the same thing.

'We can't make their children better, but we can soften the edges,' Executive Director Barbara Bach says of the house's mission.

The Luthys, who are from Camden, have been staying there for more than four months. At first, they rented a condo, but eventually it just became too expensive. So they turned to the Ronald McDonald House. What started out as 'basically a hotel room' for them quickly became much more. They began interacting with other families, having meals with them, doing stuff outside the house. They learned the strength that comes from sharing your struggles and listening to those of others.

Valerie says: 'A house is just a building. It's the people that make it a home. This has become home for us.'

Though not a ringing endorsement, Kevyns tends to agree with his mother: 'I just like anywhere that isn't the hospital.'

Today, the Luthys will celebrate Thanksgiving at the place that has become their new home. As for the days and months ahead, it's tough to tell. Kevyns feels much better, but there are certainly more rough times ahead. Nonetheless, he and his family are optimistic that one day he will be able to leave the hospital behind and live a regular life. And when that time comes, Kevyns says, he wants to become a cardiologist.

Personally, I think he can. All he has to do is put that amazing heart of his into it.

Bryce Donovan wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Reach him at 937-5938 or bdonovan@postandcourier.com.