The 6-foot-4 Meridian senior always gets a jolt of vigor from the portrait of Terry, his father, that’s etched into his body.
During the past seven months, that’s exactly what Kyle’s needed after losing his 49-year-old dad.
“He’s had a lot of frustration and anger built up, but he’s 17 years old," Meridian basketball coach Jack Blickensderfer said. “Why wouldn’t you when your dad dies unexpectedly?”
Two months after his dad drowned on Lake Decatur while working for the city, Kyle made what he calls “the best decision of his life” and honored Terry with the tattoo. Up to that point, Kyle still wasn’t sure how to operate without his dad.
There were days he thought about walking away from the sports Terry lived to see Kyle play. There were days Kyle worried about his mom and sister. All of it emotionally drained the 17-year-old and made life a chore for someone entering his senior year at Meridian.
“He had days that you could see it was tearing him up,” Meridian football coach Eric Hurelbrink said. “It was gut-wrenching.”
Ultimately, Kyle decided competing in football and basketball was what his dad would have wanted. After all, Terry went from being on the road as a truck driver to working for the city just to see his son compete.
Not much kept him from doing that.
The last time Terry saw his son in a Meridian jersey was in Peoria last March. Despite a severe cold and a doctor suggesting Terry stay home, he got to see his son hoist the Class 1A state championship trophy.
“That was a proud moment for him and me, and I’m glad it happened,” Kyle said.
With his dad not in the stands this season, Kyle's perseverance has been tested.
Still only months removed from his reality being shaken, sickness and injury have prevented his senior season from taking off. First it was a bout with mono that lingered for about a month. Then the herniated disc in his back started giving Kyle problems.
“He’s had to deal with a lot,” his mom, Lisa said. “Last year we had his dad for state, and now we don’t have him. Then his back and he gets sick.
“He’s really gone through some difficult times.”
Thankfully, the sickness is gone and his back is as healthy as it can be midseason. Fore thinks he’s about 80 percent physically. Despite battling on-court issues physically, Fore’s not sure what he would have done if he walked away from athletics considering he could be going to college to play football.
“Sitting around wasn’t going to do anything for me," Kyle said. “It wouldn’t have been good for me not to play sports.”
Emotionally, it appears some of his frustration and anger is slowly going away.
Between Lisa, Blickensderfer, Hurelbrink and many others, they’ve helped Kyle heal since June 26, a day Kyle will never forget. As anyone would expect, it’s taken a lot of time and the healing process is far from over.
“He’ll never fully heal. I don’t know how any kid could,” Hurelbrink said. “The one thing that Jack and I have talked about is that Kyle has his smile back a little bit.
“That’s what anybody would say about him before is that he was always smiling.”
As Kyle’s smiling personality resurfaces in the halls of Meridian High School, Blickensderfer has started to see a more focused kid on the basketball court.
“It’s been a tough year for him," Blickensderfer said. “He’s worked his butt off to get past everything. He’s competing hard, and his dad would be proud.”
Fore was able to get Meridian back on track last week after the Hawks suffered their first loss in more than a month. He scored 18 points in a win against Sullivan that could be turning point when Meridian looks back at the season in a month.
It’s no coincidence that performance came only days after Blickensderfer and Fore had a heart-to-heart about his dad’s death.
“A healthy and understanding Kyle is what we need," Blickensderfer said “He really didn’t want to deal with it, but he had and it’s helped.”
With his mom, sister and newborn niece in the stands and his dad on his arm and in his heart, Kyle will try to help Meridian back to the place where his dad last saw him play when the postseason begins in about two weeks.
lbridges@herald-review.com 421-6970
Published in the Herald & Review in February 2010.
