The following are excerpts of a story that appeared in the Meriden Record-Journal on September 28th. It involves the lives of two of our graduates and we are pleased to be able to share it with you. The photos are by Amanda Edwards of Ipswich, MA. Thank you to both the Record-Journal and Amanda Edwards for granting permission to use their work in our magazine. L-r: Paul Van Almkerk ’69 and Stephen Foell ’68
Friendship Spans the Years Classmate gives liver to friend’s daughter By Jeffery Kurz , Record-Journal staff
MERIDEN – In the late 1960s, Paul Van Almkerk (class of 1969) and Stephen Foell (class of 1968) were part of a close circle of Meriden friends who went to Xavier High School in Middletown. The two have remained close over the years, but nothing could have prepared them for the bond that exists now. In late August, Foell donated part of his liver in a transplant operation to save the life of Van Almkerk’s daughter, Kayla, who has cystic fibrosis. “The decision for me, it was actually the easiest decision in the world,” Foell said. “You have people like this in your life,” he said. “To me, he was like family.” Today, Foell and Van Almkerk both live in Massachusetts, Foell in Dorchester and Van Almkerk in Ipswich. Both still have family in Meriden and return to the city regularly. Van Almkerk says he still tries to make it to the football game between the high school rivals Maloney and Platt. Both played football for Xavier, both were ends, and Van Almkerk recalls beating Maloney his senior year at a game played
at Palmer Field in Middletown. After high school, Foell served in the Army while Van Almkerk attended Northeastern University in Boston, graduating in 1974. Van Almkerk eventually earned a doctoral degree, in education, from the University of California. Today, he works as a consultant for mental health organizations. Foell is a registered nurse who works for the state of Massachusetts as a consultant for people with cognitive disabilities. For a time, the two were roommates, in Cambridge, when Foell was attending the University of Massachusetts and Almkerk was at Boston University. “We were close, we always stayed connected,” Foell said. Kayla, who is 15, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 18 months old. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease in which a genetic defect causes the body to produce thick mucus that clogs the lungs and obstructs the pancreas. An estimated 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis. Fifty years ago, few children were expected to survive the disease. Today, those afflicted can live well into adulthood.
ENDURING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
T
he Xaverian charism is, at its core, relational. Therefore, a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School strives to create an atmosphere in which relationships can grow and thrive. In such an atmosphere, all can experience respect and care for their dignity as children of God. Those who work in a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School are called to understand and live their role as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which they proclaim by their attitudes, actions and manner of relating to others, especially their students. From the Foundational Documents of the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools.
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Xavier Today
Kayla Van Almkerk
Neither Paul Van Almkerk nor his wife, Janice, had a family history of the disease, he said. Though Kayla’s childhood has been full of struggle, she has managed to stay involved in typical youthful activities, including swimming, skiing, music and playing soccer. “This is a kid who would have a few excuses to miss school, but she didn’t,” Van Almkerk said. “She very much wants to have a regular life.” When she was 11, Kayla underwent a splenectomy, and at that time Van Almkerk recalls doctors expressing concern about the condition of her liver. In February this year, the family was told she would need a liver trans-plant within six months. “Kayla’s lungs today are relatively healthy,” Van Almkerk said. “The liver took the major hit.” In most liver transplants, the liver or liver tissue comes from a deceased donor. About 17,000 Americans are on a waiting list for a liver transplant, according to the American Liver Foundation. “There’s not enough cadaver donors coming in and consequently you have to be almost critically ill to be moved to the top of the list,” Van Almkerk said. The liver is the