Kyle and Kristen Cox
"I never could have imagined your life full of so much joy." At StoryCorps, Kristen Cox talks with her son Kyle David Cox about Kyle's Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Kyle getting into Kristen’s alma mater, Texas A&M, and his career plans.
- [Kyle] Was it hard when you found out that I was first diagnosed?
- [ Kristen] Well, yeah, I'd never heard of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy but when the doctor said you had it the next words out of his mouth were that, "Your son won't see his 20th birthday and just enjoy him." So we were paralyzed for a couple of months. All I pictured was darkness and no joy in your life or ours. I never could have seen what you have today. When did you know that you would be an Aggie?
- [Kyle] I always known that, I mean you've been taking me to football games before I could probably even talk and they was the only school I applied to and I got in, thankfully.
- [Kristen] When you got in to A&M you weren't sure that you'd get out and what you told me at the time was, "I just really wanna get my Aggie ring." So now you have your Aggie ring and Lord willing and the creek don't rise, you're gonna get out in May. Did you ever see past graduation?
- [Kyle] Well, in the fall I'll be starting at the Bush School getting my Master's in Public Administration. I'll be focusing on public policy. After graduating on Bush School I can see myself moving down to Austin and perhaps working for the Attorney General's Office or a state legislator. Or I know there's a few companies that work solely on advocating for people with disabilities like Disability Rights Texas. There are certainly options to explore.
- [Kristen] And you have a job right now?
- [Kyle] Yeah I'm working at the Texas A&M Foundation raising money for the school.
- [Kristen] I don't know who's more proud of that job, you or me.
- [Kyle] I think in a way, you are.
- [Kristen] Yeah, if I could have picked one place for you to get a job on campus, that would have been it. Most parents tell me their sons with Duchennes don't have friends. Well I remember I was in Austin when I got the call that you were in the ER and you were gonna be admitted. So I rushed over here but I made a post on Facebook and said, "Hey, if any of Kyle's friends are in the area, he's in this hospital." And the nurses told me there was a huge party in there. And I go into this room and there's like 25 guys.
- [Kyle] Then I remember you ordered pizza for everyone.
- [Kristen] I think that was one of the moments that I really know how good your friends are.
- [Kyle] Sometimes I forget I have a disability, it just doesn't resonate with me.
- [Kristen] Your 6th grade teacher told me that you told her, "I'm just like you except that I use wheels and you use legs."
- [Kyle] Lot of times I'll joke about my disabilities. Like if someone says, "Let's walk to someplace." I'll go, "You walk, I'll roll."
- [Kristen]Yeah, you say that a lot.
- [Kyle] Or if they keep saying, "What?" I'll take out my hearing aid and be like, "Here, you need a hearing aid?"
- [Kristen]What would you tell another boy with Duchennes?
- [Kyle] You gotta learn how to put yourself out there. You gotta take chances. You may get hurt after taking a chance but at least you'll learn something. If you just stay at home all day and don't do much you'll never see what's out there. You'll never experience life.
- [Kristen] I'm just really proud of you. I just never could have imagined your life full of so much joy and I'm really honored that you wanted to go to college where I went and I think that's really neat
- [Kyle] Now every time I'm writing my papers in school I always mention you and how you're probably my role model.