Lely athlete recovering from brain tumor

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde Staff Kenny Baptiste shows his incision where a benign brain tumor was removed following his collapse after a Lely basketball game.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde Staff Linda Feins, ESE specialist, explains to Kenny and Jacqueline Baptiste how Homebound Instruction works. Baptiste collapsed following a basketball game and underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. With them, from left, are Ken Fairbanks, Lely High principal, Lorie Cox, guidance counselor and Tammy McEndree, school nurse. Until he returns to Lely, possibly at the end of April, Baptiste will receive schooling at home.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde Staff Kenny Baptiste signs the Homebound Instruction form while his mom Jacqueline looks on. Baptiste is now receiving home schooling from Lely teachers as he recovers from a benign brain tumor that was removed in February.

In one moment Lely sophomore Kenny Baptiste was celebrating with his team after winning a close game at Gulf Coast on Feb. 2. In the next, he was laying face down, unconscious.

At first it was thought he suffered a seizure, but it was soon learned he had a brain tumor.

He was taken to Joe DiMaggio Hospital in Hollywood, where neurosurgeon Dr. Louis Rodriguez successfully took out a benign brain tumor, the size of a lemon, Baptiste remembers.

Since the surgery he has undergone physical and occupational therapy. The tumor was removed from the right side, which left Baptiste’s left side less functional.

He continues to have difficulty walking as his left side continues to improve.

His therapy includes working on his motor skills, balance, running, jumping and conditioning.

“They have me dribbling with my left hand and hopping on my left foot,” Baptiste said as he returned to Lely High School for the first time on Wednesday. Not to return to school, but to get the paperwork signed for home-schooling. If all goes well he will return to Lely at the end of April.

Baptiste, an A student, was to take the math and reading FCATs this week at Lely.

Principal Ken Fairbanks told Baptiste not to worry, that he will receive a waiver.

Fairbanks told him, “Don’t stress out, you still need to recover. If you are not caught up with school work we can give you extended learning time into June.”

Baptiste could take the FCAT in October. Fairbanks said that Kenny only needed to pass the FCATs before he graduates, which was not a concern, Fairbanks said.

There will be teachers assigned for History, English II, Intensive Reading, Biology and Algebra II. As he progresses he also will receive weight training. His home-schooling began almost immediately as teachers were assigned on Thursday.

Two girls basketball players stopped by the Guidance Office to say hello to Baptiste, but he had trouble remembering them. He and others have no problem recalling the night he collapsed.

JV coach Fritz Jacques said Baptiste came into the game in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, working hard to help the team win.

“We were playing full-court pressure and Kenny did great,” Jacques said. “We were headed to the locker room after winning a close game when Kenny just went down, face first.”

“I remember feeling a little tired before I went into the game,” Baptiste said. “I figured I’d rest after the game. When the game was over I just felt relaxed then my strength left me.”

The Gulf Coast trainer Christina Chirco and Steve Rockey, father of Baptiste’s teammate Devan, who is a member of Collier County Emergency Services, tended to him immediately, before other Collier EMS personnel took Baptist to NCH North Naples Hospital on Immokalee Road, a short distance from Gulf Coast.

“Gulf Coast should be commended on how quickly the trainer came and gave Kenny proper assistance, along with Steve,” Jacques said.

Baptiste said, “When I was revived, I was trying to figure out what happened, what was going on as everyone was staring down at me,” Baptiste said.

Teammate Will Bott recalled, “We all were just shocked at what had just happened. We were heading back to the locker room, celebrating the win, when I heard a noise and Kenny was lying face down. I thought he fainted and would get right back up, but he didn’t.”

Baptiste’s mother, Jacqueline, said she was notified by ambulance personnel who took Kenny to the hospital.

“When I learned he was conscious I thought, ‘he’s OK now.’ When they said he may have had a seizure I didn’t remember it being part of the family’s history.”

She said that a routine CAT scan found the tumor that sent him to Joe DiMaggio Hospital.

Then a second incident arose. Jacqueline Baptiste was notified her mother had died in Haiti.

“The doctor said it would be OK to go and I just went long enough for the funeral and came right back,” she said.

“Once the tumor was removed I heard what I had hoped, that the tumor was benign.”

The Lely Hoops Booster Club is having a fundraiser for Baptiste on Saturday at Rookies Bar & Grill on Marco Island. There will be a drawing for a 50-inch Samsung flat screen TV. The drawing will be between NCAA semifinal games. Raffle tickets are $25 donation and the winner need not be present.

Tickets are available at Rookies, Jack’s Lookout on Marco and through Patty Bott at 293-1116. Tickets also will be available at Rookies that day.