Beyond Brave
Meet Kyla Thomson, a former teacher turned passionate advocate and host of Beyond Brave. Known as 'Medical Mom' to Bella Brave, Kyla spent over a decade beside her daughter Bella, a remarkable young soul who inspired the world with her courage. Bella’s journey through rare medical challenges transformed Kyla’s life, leading her to channel her experience, resilience, and heart into helping others navigate hardship and healing. Today, Kyla continues to honor Bella’s legacy by sharing the hard truths, powerful lessons, and heartwarming moments that shaped their story. Join Kyla on Beyond Brave as she dives deep into stories of resilience, loss, hope, and healing, inspiring listeners to find light even in their darkest moments.
Beyond Brave
Honoring Bella: A Journey of Resilience, Advocacy, and Legacy
Can a story of a young girl named Bella teach us about resilience, advocacy, and the complexities of life? As we share the launch of our Bella Brave Legacy Project, Lyle and I invite you to join us on a journey through laughter and tears as we honor our daughter, Bella, who faced life's challenges with unmatched bravery. From Lyle's humorous brush with a dumpster to the trials of rural living, we open up about personal anecdotes that never made it to social media.
In this episode, we explore the power of storytelling beyond Instagram and TikTok, highlighting the struggles and triumphs of parenting a child with rare diseases. Bella's legacy is one of courage, hope, and an indomitable spirit that continues to inspire us and countless others. Her story, filled with heartwarming encounters with fans and chance meetings with celebrities, is a testament to her impact on those around her. We discuss the importance of advocacy and intentional grieving, reflecting on how these practices have shaped our journey of healing and honoring Bella's memory.
We share our experiences of connecting with our online community, emphasizing the necessity of mutual support in times of grief. By inviting listeners to engage with our podcast, we aim to build a collective space for sharing stories and fostering resilience. As we wrap up this heartfelt episode, we promise future installments filled with exciting guests and engaging discussions, ensuring that the spirit of Bella continues to shine brightly in our shared narratives. Join us in keeping her legacy alive with laughter, hope, and a touch of humor.
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Hey friends, welcome to the very first episode of Beyond Brave. So I'm Kyla, and sitting here with me is my husband, Lyle. We've talked about doing this for a while now and, honestly, it feels a little surreal to finally hit record In this episode. We're starting right at the heart of it all. Our daughter Bella will share her eulogy, some beautiful memories, and why this podcast feels like the next step in carrying on her legacy. You'll hear about how Beyond Brave came to be, why starting this was harder than we thought and what we hope to create here stories, connection and maybe a little healing for all of us.
Kyla Thomson:There are moments where we open up in ways we haven't before. So stick around. As much as you think you know about Bella's story, there is so much more to share. Let's get started. Welcome to Beyond Brave. I'm Kyla, and here's where we dive into stories of hope, bravery and laughter. Millions followed our journey with my daughter, Bella, but now it's time to go beyond the headlines and highlight reels to those raw, real moments I haven't shared anywhere else. So are you ready to go beyond brave? Let's dive in.
:But if you want it to be perfect, you can make it perfect.
Kyla Thomson:I think our whole first episode here is going to be telling you all about what we plan to talk about in every other episode. I have so many flippant ideas. It's ridiculous.
Lyle Thomson:But we're going to have a meeting about or, sorry, go ahead.
Kyla Thomson:No, I was just going to say like, because the whole purpose of our podcast is our Bella Brave Legacy Project and that is honoring our late daughter, isabella thompson, and what she has done in terms of showing this world what brave means. And I want, I I feel like a podcast is a way of sharing our story in in a way that no other platform can handle. Tiktok cannot handle it, instagram cannot handle it. The only way is a podcast way, and I'm just really excited for that, about sharing stories of sitting on cats and another.
Kyla Thomson:Yes, that's the thing I want revelations I want to mix in all of our life stories well, you gotta think about.
Lyle Thomson:Sometimes it's nice to to put in the perspective of what bella would want. Yes, and she would want a story of me sitting on a cat 100 humor.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, sitting on a cat. 100 mom tell the story. Oh, we, okay, so you know the lists we started. We started. Lala and I both started lists on her phone after bella had passed. Any time a memory with her popped in her head, we would start writing it down in our notes section and we're looking it. It's. It's a beautiful way to basically like journal about anything we definitely don't want to forget or anytime it pops in your head. You just want to remember it and review it and go over it later on. Um, and all these little like tidbits and notes. Mine are usually about a paragraph to two paragraph memories, um, but definitely, definitely she would want. Dad, do you remember the time you almost you pinched your finger in the garbage? Can?
Lyle Thomson:every time we drive by, like every time, not the garbage can no, it was like a dumpster.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, you almost lost a finger yeah, it's scary.
Lyle Thomson:Squashed my finger. Yeah, we were dry cut bell and I were driving in a town. We live on an acreage outside town. Yeah, and I put the garbage in a dumpster. In the dumpster, the gears not even like the lid was it gears in the corner? Yeah, like the hinge. The hinge like sucked my hand in, yeah, and I was able to lift it off with my other hand, but it was like all messed up you know, yeah, hey.
Lyle Thomson:So what I do I? I I got in the truck as a bella, I I messed my hand up. We gotta go you're.
Kyla Thomson:I almost lost my hand.
Lyle Thomson:No, I didn't.
Kyla Thomson:That's the way she remembers it.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, I know, but I did not tell my six seven-year-old daughter. I almost lost my hand, but I ripped home and I drove her home back home, then you had to go to the emergency. Dropped her off and then drove myself to the hospital. Luckily, you were at home.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, yeah, because you didn't want to take her to the ER with your no she did not need to sit in the ER with me, was it? Spurting blood Like did she see it? No, I didn't hit an artery, I hit a finger. Why did you need to go to the ER then?
Lyle Thomson:Well, I needed stitches so you could see meat. Oh, I didn't know that. I never got to see it. I'm looking, I I heal so nicely. There's no scar. That's somewhere, I don't know. Anyway is, every time I drive by we drove by the dumpster bella would say hey, dad, you remember when you did that and she loved because it annoyed me yeah, oh yeah, don't remind me of that.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, or the time when you like, almost like that was really scared, that scared me. I don't know if bella remembers that or not, but you like were we had to haul our water I don't think we can get into the water hauling, trials and tribulations a whole nother podcast see. Okay, so back to what people probably don't understand.
Lyle Thomson:We used to live when we still have on our acreage but, we, before we drilled a well, yeah, we had a cistern and the cistern is basically what you put your drinking water in and your household water, yeah, you just take it from a big tap in town, yeah, into a pipe and you put in your cistern, your big tank in your house.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, yeah, I wasn't very good at hauling water oh my gosh, there's like the water truck fire story oh my gosh there's the truck and trailer sliding backwards story we gotta refine our story like what's good probably shouldn't tell the truck on fire story because I think you think that would have sent you to jail.
Lyle Thomson:So I had to get the tow truck there that night to get it out there paid him under under the table together evidence removed, forgot, forget you saw this tonight everyone needs to know this now, the listener.
Kyla Thomson:They're gonna be so peeved if we don't just tell the story now no, I don't know, that's the cliffhanger oh tune in for episode three.
Kyla Thomson:We're only on episode one. This is episode one. I'm telling denny to use this content it's they're gonna love it. But we're kind of all over the place because we we hopped on and we we have full intentions of recording our first episode, but we have so many stories to tell. I have my notepad and pen here because I'm like okay, don't forget if, if you tell your view, your viewers and your listeners what you're going to talk about in the future, you can't forget to talk about those stories I'm not even much of a storyteller, I'm over it.
Kyla Thomson:I'll just riff on yours, I guess I know like we could riff for hours and like yeah, that's not what we want to do no, no, no, we want to.
Kyla Thomson:I want to stick to kind of like one focus per episode with a little bit of riffs here and there and trail up, but we just have so many. See, this is why it's so hard to start. This is like when you know, when you're like in high school and you have to write an essay, I was always the kid that it was like maximum was the problem, maximum was the problem. Like when a teacher would say, like what a minimum. One to 10 pages. I was the kid that was like struggling to get my 20 pages essay to 10 that's great, that's perfect.
Lyle Thomson:That's what we need. That's, denny, the producer's problem. You can cut, you can cut, right, you can spend all day. Yeah, yeah, yeah you but it's like I'm trying to fit all 20 topics, all those 20 pages I was definitely the bump the line spacing up to like 1.1 and put like the space between words. Bump that up a little bit. I'm like I'll get to 2500 words one way or another or no.
Kyla Thomson:No, you're definitely a hacker. No, it wasn't pages it was amount of.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, it was amount of pages, not words back in the day, so you could just like, yeah, extend the spacing yeah, no shot gbt these hooligans get these days oh yeah, because you stay away from that don't give my secrets away in episode one this is all just ai generated it's not we actually don't even exist I'm real anybody prove?
Kyla Thomson:it. I well I can't do like a freaking satanic ritual and cut my hand open or something and bleed on tv.
Lyle Thomson:That would they oh that would be good proof. You're right. I was wondering where you can go with that. I was like, how are you gonna prove it? And that's where you went that's where I went.
Kyla Thomson:How else would you prove it?
Lyle Thomson:but yeah, ai could generate that they can make. But it would be really aggressive and unexpected, which is like, wow, I didn't see that coming. Yeah must be real yeah, no one can, no computer could predict that. What did she just cut herself?
Kyla Thomson:oh my gosh, censored, censored, fail, deleted. What do they call it? Canceled, canceled culture, oh, we could get into cancel culture canceled. I like that yeah, we can't have mike on our for a guest.
Lyle Thomson:We'd get canceled you don't listen to some of the podcasts I listen to there's nowhere anything goes your.
Kyla Thomson:You would get canceled with your audience right, if I said anything offside, they would be. They wouldn't know what to do with themselves oh, I doubt that no it's just mine are anything I've said like I really want to have like that whole episode. Like I wrote it down, I was like I want to have a whole episode where lyle makes fun of things. I've said that were just like I don't want to say blonde moments, but it's like. No, you said it today what did I say today?
Lyle Thomson:you said it was survivor season. Okay, if we were watching tv and it was survivor season 46. I don't know, why we were. We weren't even paying attention, but that I was like wow, that is a lot, yeah, 46 yeah, I'm kyla for kyla said I'm 41. Wow, that is crazy. That means survivor came out when I was five, I know I said when I was six when I was six.
Kyla Thomson:I'm like 41 I understand.
Lyle Thomson:I I kind of got your logic.
Kyla Thomson:You assume that survivor comes out once a year I, yes, I assume it came out once a year and I have no problem with your logic.
Lyle Thomson:I have a problem with your math my math. I should have said just like you hate my when I round, it would have been I think when you were like five years, before you were born, using that logic of survivor, one a year yes it would have been before you were to have been like 1971, I don't know so I was born in 83 point of the story.
Kyla Thomson:There's more than one season of survivor in a year. It's got to be like two or three in a year.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah I never watch it, sorry, survivor but, jeff looks fantastic still come on in, guys, I should have him on. That's the only impersonation I do in my life. Is jeff from survivor?
Kyla Thomson:come on in.
Lyle Thomson:That's all he does.
Kyla Thomson:I could have him and the talk we should have one here clan has voted you out. I don't know what he says oh my gosh, did you just reference the kkk? Is that what they say, clan or no, tribe out, I don't know what he says. Oh my gosh, did you just reference the kkk?
Lyle Thomson:a glue club. Is that what they say? Clan or no tribe? No, they don't say the clue clucks clan I said I didn't say that you did, canceled anyways episode 1.5, brought to you by that's the only impression I do is jeff, that's really good. Come on, you guys.
Kyla Thomson:I was gonna say I was gonna say, with how fabulous he looks, we should have him on just to talk about his skincare me, oh jeff yeah, no what? Your skincare is pretty easy, you just borrow all mine like what I don't know. I've seen you stealing my stuff once in a while, like what like my uh, johnson and johnson body cream all over your face. It's not even johnson, johnson. I don't know why I said that. What cream do we have under the sink? The body cream, lubriderm I don't know it's aloe, nivia.
Kyla Thomson:Whatever I coconut nivia you rub all over your face.
Lyle Thomson:It's for my legs whatever I coconut, nivia, you rub all over your face. It's for my legs. That's it. Yes, you told me.
Kyla Thomson:I said my face was dry one day and you gave me that I did not, and that's what I've used ever since.
Lyle Thomson:Yes, in the little white the lubriderm in your drawer?
Kyla Thomson:yes, that's what I use I'm talking about like the two liters of, like nivia coconut shea butter under.
Lyle Thomson:No use that little white one. What is it called it's?
Kyla Thomson:yeah, luperderm. Yeah, it's like white with like the blue writing. Is it face cream?
Lyle Thomson:it's body cream. So you didn't give me my face is there a?
Kyla Thomson:difference for men's skin? I don't really know what difference is there?
Lyle Thomson:seriously, I've heard that and I don't buy it, men women.
Kyla Thomson:Well, like in a lot of women's skincare, it's like retinol or peptides or hyaluronic acid, and it's all just like to combat wrinkles. For us like mid-aged women, why do you know I? Don't need to put that all over my body. I don't have wrinkles, no, I get that.
Lyle Thomson:That makes sense, but why do? Is it made for women? No good point what difference is there between your skin and my skin?
Kyla Thomson:I guess the only difference is the goals right and you have different hormones than I do, like women, like that's, like like right now with like perimetopause, like the crap that I'm going through with my insides, let alone my outsides what's this perimenopause?
Lyle Thomson:You've never mentioned that to me before.
Kyla Thomson:Oh my gosh.
Lyle Thomson:I've never heard about that. You're such a brat.
Kyla Thomson:It just sucks because men don't. They don't have to deal with the hormones we have, so they don't put any research into it. So then they really don't care about our symptoms because they're just like get over it, we don't deal with it. That's not me when I talk about my bloating here we go again. Or when you're like I'm very manifest.
Lyle Thomson:No, every time you talk about these things. I ask I've never heard you talk about that before. Why didn't you mention it sooner?
Kyla Thomson:you're being sarcastic something so nice and show me how you really are. It's gonna be a constant theme. We are totally off traffic.
Lyle Thomson:We haven't even told these people who we are and what we're about okay, well considering, no one's just gonna randomly put in spotify beyond brave, like they're gonna know who you are that's the thing, though.
Kyla Thomson:Like when I start like promoting it on my tiktok, it'll feed it out to people that have no idea who I am and they might be like, oh, I want to check this out, and then they might start scrolling and then they only get like a like that's a crappy thing about the vast majority, but yeah like episode one is well here.
Kyla Thomson:Here's what I have an issue with with tiktok and and instagram, I guess, and facebook too, but the way that the the platform is shown to people. When you're new to a page, you don't get a quick summary of that person's life, who they are, what they're about, and you have to scroll and scroll, and scroll and scroll and it's like where do you stop scrolling? Where do you start where? Like you know what I mean. Like I don't want to ask people to scroll back to 2014, when I started my Facebook page to get the whole story Right.
Lyle Thomson:Like but you have a pin thing You've like on YouTube. You have Bella's pin story.
Kyla Thomson:That's true, but that's so minimal, like, especially on.
Lyle Thomson:TikTok. Like you, you're asking too much.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, it's minimal, but like it's like and TikTok will sometimes take.
Lyle Thomson:You can't expect anyone to know everything in the past like 10 years, and I wouldn't like.
Kyla Thomson:No, but the nice thing about podcasts is you can start at square one and you can be like okay, like when I promote it on TikTok, you'd be like this is episode one, this is what we're about. Or this episode is about Bella's start to life. This episode is about our whole family. This episode is about right hospital, year one. Tiktok. You can't do that like. It'll shoot out videos that bella and I made like two years ago to new viewers and they'll come to my page and then they'll. They'll be so confused because they're like wait a minute, she's not like what like? So I have pinned her post that gives a snip bit of her life story and like her like you know what you mean.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, I guess I'm assuming too much yeah, no, it's just like that's what's always. I've had a hard time because we've always had something going on and on and on.
Lyle Thomson:It's like you really had to have followed us from like 2013 to really know our whole story from day one with bella and I'm thinking like no, it's good to know, I think, if you're tuning into the like, if you want to listen to this podcast, yeah, you have a understanding of that, you can have a quick understanding of that. But like they don't want to hear about july 7 2014, you know what I mean. Like yeah, yeah, like they want.
Kyla Thomson:Okay, I understand what brought you to this point but how do you summarize 10 years you don't have?
Lyle Thomson:to. I think you, they understand what brought you to this point, right you? Most do yeah and maybe not yeah the podcast has to stand on its own it does, I also it has to be interesting enough not to just, yeah, hang on those stories, but also, how do we, one, carry on our legacy and legacy and, two, yeah, make it interesting to listen to?
Kyla Thomson:exactly because. Then the one thing I worry about is and I don't want to retell all these stories and bore exactly everyone that already knows our story, yes, but what I do want listeners to know is like, as much as you think you know just from tiktok and instagram, you don't know oh, that's salacious.
Lyle Thomson:That's like uh, you're watching some cheesy desperate, how it's last. You think you know the whole story.
Kyla Thomson:You don't know yeah, yeah, but I mean it, I mean that. I mean that, like there is things like I don't know, maybe I don't know okay, well, number one.
Kyla Thomson:Number one is the whole, the whole thing about bella being a child and me being an adult and her going through this hospital life with rare disease. We wanted to inspire kids like her. We didn't want to scare them, right? So I'm not going to go on my instagram and and share the nitty-gritty of like sure, my ptsd or my trauma or the things that were so hard and describe that. I'm not going to go do that on our Instagram. I'm going to share it in an appropriate way, through like a couple paragraphs that I get like you only get like three to four paragraphs on an Instagram post. I'm going to share it in an appropriate way, a helpful way, not a scary way, because I know there's other kids that are following Bella for inspiration and joy and um and overall, like, okay, she can get through it, I can get through this. You know what I mean. So it's not like I could ever ever share the true reality and like in sense of like the hardships and also didn't have the energy or the time right.
Lyle Thomson:Like who does?
Kyla Thomson:right. So a podcast can we can dive deeper into those things I can really share, to like I'm not gonna have, like I don't think, I don't think I'm gonna have like 10 and 12 year olds listening to my podcast. Really I'm gonna have the moms, the dads, the caregivers, the adults yeah, it's a totally different audience.
Kyla Thomson:No, yeah, well, first and foremost, uh, starting this bella brave legacy project is for you, sweetheart. It's for you, bella, I love you and this is for you. How we want our first episode to start is kind of like how our story began, um, and who bella is is our daughter and we. We were gonna start with her eulogy, which is, um, what I wrote for her, and then kind of go from there, right that was our plan yeah, then do we need to press pause or not?
:oh I don't know, I don't really need to press pause or not?
Kyla Thomson:Oh, I don't know I don't really need to. A letter to my.
Kyla Thomson:Bella, my dearest Bella, honey, as I read this, my heart feels both heavy and full. Heavy because I miss you more than words can express, and full because your life, though brief, was filled with so much light and love. Though she be but little, she is fierce. From the moment you were born, you were my beacon of hope and bravery and soon became that for millions of others. As you shone your light. Through the massive medical struggles you faced, you took on each day with a strength that was nothing short of miraculous and showed doctors across the world miracles still happen. You were not just my daughter. You were an inspiration to countless children fighting big battles just like you. Your courage gave them hope and reminded them that, no matter how small, they are never too tiny to fight big battles. Your ability to calm and comfort was a gift you embodied.
Kyla Thomson:Dad and I have a fond memory of when you were asked to host Telemiracle. Prior to hosting, you were invited to judge auditions. One performer was a 40-year-old gentleman who got nervous before his performance and you interjected after one of his false starts to tell him never be scared to sing, just be brave. It was exactly what he needed to hear. You were fiercely active from the first kick in my ribs all the way through the many sports you enjoyed throughout your childhood Dance, soccer, cheer, gymnastics, swimming, ziplining and more. There was nothing you wouldn't try, at least once. You had no fear ever, from gladly accepting dares to eat silly lunch food combinations with your classmates to gracefully teaching millions how to face fear with a smile. The way you taught us to be brave is unmatched and forever keeps me in awe of your strength and your love. Your confidence was something else. What's most remarkable is that you never once complained about your size. Though you were born with dwarfism, you had the confidence of a giant. You loved being unique and saw it as a superpower.
Kyla Thomson:One day, while walking through the mall in Saskatoon, a toddler pointed at you and said Baby. Completely unfazed, you continued on unbothered, recognizing that the toddler was just innocently confused. But your brother, maybe only a year older than that young child, did not? Waylon got very upset and loudly proclaimed Bella is not a baby. You proudly fawned over your protective, supportive brother. It was sweet and endearing to see how much it meant to you for him to stick up for you with faith the size of a mustard seed.
Kyla Thomson:You will move mountains. You had a special connection with god that was evident in everything you did. Your faith was unwavering and through that faith you found so much joy. Despite facing astronomical medical challenges, your faith never wavered, not even the slightest Any mountain you faced. You told it to move and it moved, even if your approach was an effortless as a nonchalant meh, like your response to having a bowel transplant. Mountains were easy for you to move and this strength you embodied has inspired millions.
Kyla Thomson:What was daunting for others was simply a bump in the road for you. There was nothing you couldn't get through without your stuffy animal by your side. Larry the lynx, charlotte the kitty and Rosie, your bunny, were the sweetest of sidekicks through your many surgeries and hospital stays. Yet they also always managed to be involved on the silliest of adventures too, like slides at the park, air ambulance rides, walking mummy and walking mummy to and from the Ronald McDonald House laundry room. Small but mighty, you held the strength of a giant over rare disease and conditions that made you small.
Kyla Thomson:I remember your independence as your strongest quality. It was important to you. You hated to ask for help even when you so obviously needed it. I remember moments when I saw you struggle, but my medical mama heart could not stand to see you struggle even for a moment, especially on the days that we were not in hospital. But whenever I offered to help, you often snapped back with a hint of frustration in your voice. I can do it myself, though I think it may have mostly been me who saw this side of you.
Kyla Thomson:I feel like you often enjoyed being catered to by others and loved displaying your queen bee princess persona. I see this now, especially since my mama heart melted so often when you would sit me down If you saw me stressed or sad and you'd say, mom, everything's going to be okay. Just take three deep breaths with me. Mom, I think you need a break, don't worry and just take a break. You'd often tell me out of the blue that you not only love me, but you appreciate how much I do for you. You're a diamond dear. You could not be broken. Sweetheart.
Kyla Thomson:You had a remarkable gift for understanding people's feelings. It was as if you could see into their hearts and heal them with just a smile. Their hearts, and heal them with just a smile. Your crystal blue eyes, or, as you like to call them, ice blue, could melt the strongest of souls and your loving stare opened up hearts that had long been closed. And your giggle, it was the most precious, energizing sound in the world. And I remember the last couple times I heard your belly laugh we were walking with your unit nurse to x-ray in the giant sick kids hospital that we knew like the back of our hands, but your nurse did not. I joked about inventing a new code for that lost nurse and we called it Code Purple, as I pretended to call a new code for that lost nurse, and we called it Code Purple, as I pretended to call a code purple for the lost nurse. Over the intercom, your Bella belly laugh filled the halls of that hospital.
Kyla Thomson:Your love of humour was my favourite. Pranks were your favourite. You wished every day was April Fool's Day and often would start planning your next April Fool's Day pranks on April 2nd. Your love of googly eye pranks began when I first stuck them all around the hospital because that pesky IV pole wouldn't let you easily go outside. What started as a fun treasure hunt turned into your favourite prank. Every hospital stay we would leave googly eyes in hopes of bringing a little chuckle to all the kids living in hospital, like you did.
Kyla Thomson:Sweetheart, you were a force to be reckoned with. You were not only a philanthropist but an ambassador for not just one but two Canadian children hospitals. You gave selflessly as an educator who taught through example, and wise beyond your years. You touched more lives in your time here than many adults do in a lifetime. Honey, I promise you as I move forward, I will carry you with me in everything I do. Your legacy, your bravery and joy will continue to inspire me and everyone who knew you. My beautiful Bella, you are missed beyond measure, but your spirit lives on in our hearts and in the lives of those you've touched. Until we meet again, my sweet girl, I'll hold you in my heart forever with love, with all my love Mom.
Kyla Thomson:I can't clean that down here for you. Sorry, baby.
Lyle Thomson:That's okay, I haven't listened to that since Since July Me neither I remember it. So I mean it was hard to listen to, just like Pictures are fine. Yeah.
Kyla Thomson:I remember pictures are fine. Yeah, I remember. Um, I I wrote that as a letter to her and I remember the number one question that people would ask me or not question. The number one thing people would say to me they still do was that they do not know how I kept it together yeah, I absolutely agree.
Lyle Thomson:I was thinking that while I was watching it I couldn't keep it together listening to it yeah four months later and I.
Kyla Thomson:I think what I said at the beginning, before we started, was like I need you to take over if I can't finish it I knew you would like I never, I never went to it and went into it thinking I'm not gonna be able to finish this, like I like I wanted to like, just in case, like I don't know, I never know how like my body and mind's gonna react with, with trauma. But um, I, when I started to speak, I was like, okay, like this is a letter from me to her, I'm not gonna not tell her, I'm just gonna like like I know she's there listening and tell her everything I need her to hear. And, um, there was no way I was not gonna finish what I needed to say to her in that moment with through my eulogy letter. And I guess that's the only really explanation I have is you're saying that and just the will yeah, and also, yeah, and like also.
Kyla Thomson:Her friends are there, right, like her school friends, classmates, right, and I wanted them to know, like some stories or some things about her that they may may not have known, and I wanted them to hold that in their hearts too yeah, she's very it's nice to.
Lyle Thomson:I think a lot of it was like showing that she was very active participant in all of that yeah, all the hospital stuff it was yeah I was writing down. She was not passively being no worked on and tended to she was, yeah, every bit involved with every decision.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, and when I talked to her about things like you know, I mean 10 years of living this medical life with her rare disease that she battled and going through a bone marrow transplant and, uh, a bowel transplant and um, many, many medical stays and surgeries.
Kyla Thomson:Uh, and what kept her going was knowing that she was inspiring other little kids like her, or older kids, to like, and that meant a lot to her. And so when I would tell her, like why we share online, it's we want to help other kids like her and other families like ours what it meant to be an advocate through that. And so she her like. She understood what a charity was. She understood what the raw mcdonald house was. She understood what supporting the hospital meant to the hospital that cared for her, or hospitals plural, right. She knew all that and like she wanted to do fundraiser, she wanted to give gifts. She was, she had such a giving heart and so like well, she loved all the events that came along with it.
Kyla Thomson:Oh yes, like the parties. It was you know what do you mean. Like the radio thoughts Like that was a party. Or like her philanthropist award that she received she deserved it. Oh, and then her recent award that she received Her not Governor General.
Lyle Thomson:Oh um her uh, governor, not governor general.
Kyla Thomson:Oh gosh, my brain, I can't remember right now the name of it. It's okay, though, anyways. Um she, she took everything fundraising and advocacy very seriously king's medal, king's coronation king's coronation yeah, yeah um, I wrote down on here, like just taking some notes that I wanted to discuss with after.
Kyla Thomson:That was like to catch people up. You know who our daughter Bella was and she, in short, she was born with three rare diseases dwarfism, an immune disorder called severe combined immune deficiency, and hirschbrungs, which is a bowel disease, and that's what led to her needing a bowel transplant. The skid was what led to her needing a bone marrow transplant, and I, I think that's the basic listen to her eulogy people understand she had a, she had a long medical.
Lyle Thomson:I wrote yeah, yeah yeah, it was, it was, it was hard to listen to. Uh, it was always nice, like, yeah, I got emotional listening. I get emotional listening to that. You think why you, why do you listen to it then while it in? And I would think the same thing. But it's you cry, you, you kind of break down and but it it feels good like you're honoring her. That's why I hate. I hate when I have a day that passes where that might not happen you feel like you haven't honored her enough.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, physically, like mentally, physically you haven't done something, even physically done something like go to her grave site or go into her bedroom or no or just, yeah, go into a bedroom for me and spend yeah time yeah with her, with her or yeah in your head with her yeah or, yeah, you know, I can't even get.
Lyle Thomson:I can't. I can look at, like I said earlier, I can look at photos. Yeah, I still can't get to videos, you think I've had a hard time with that too, and and videos are okay, but when I have to, that she's doing tiktok dance, that's still fine, that's fine I can watch that, but I cannot. I can't listen to her it's. I have very difficult time listening to her speak.
Lyle Thomson:It's just very overwhelming yeah, we're, we're very fresh if, if you're new, don't oh, it's new, it's okay well, I just, or you don't have to explain, you don't have to get into those details like, yeah, what do you want?
Kyla Thomson:I was just gonna say like she's sorry no no, no, no, I was just gonna say she just passed away in july, july 14th.
Lyle Thomson:So we're newly like we're, we're grieving parents, only so many, you know, just for a few months now, and um but it's nice to do this because I was excited too, yeah, um, because, like I was saying, those these days where you they might come and go and and you don't have those that put that time into to feeling that way, and I knew doing this would be an opportunity to to really feel, uh, that way well and like I like I said at the start to sit in it.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, I said you know I start start this podcast of saying like this is for you, sweetheart, mommy and daddy want to do this for you.
Kyla Thomson:We want to help more kids and parents, you know, like ours, like us, and I'm gonna cry all over the microphone, um, but uh, one thing I wanted to mention on here which I know will help a lot of parents is it sucks, but living this life with her has led me to a lot of other moms I know really well. So friends who've lost their kids, right and um, what we're learning through counseling right now, like grief counseling, I learned a very important lesson or like how, why intentionally grieving is a need right now. For me is something I need to focus on because I am, I know my body, physically and mentally, is very scarred to trauma and I I find it very hard. I feel like it's going to be too painful to really face that sadness, and so, not that I've been bottling a lot of it up, but it's like to intentionally grieve. I find very, very painful physically, mentally, emotionally. It's just pain.
Lyle Thomson:It's painful like hard like hard right to live in it it's hard to describe, but it's just, it's.
Kyla Thomson:It's like this is a terrible example, but it's like if you were like five and avoiding the dentist. You're like, oh, I know this is gonna hurt. I know this is gonna hurt and you do everything in your power to just avoid it. That's why I've been doing a lot of the time five.
Lyle Thomson:I'm 38 and I do that we really needed to bring clean x. Oh my gosh, I understand what you're saying, but I know you don't take that time. That's, yeah, because I know it derails you too difficult. Yeah, I'd say it doesn't. They derail my day, yeah, as much as and you're kind of a spearheaded person like you you want to get these things accomplished in a day and you're very aware that if you, if you go into bella's room and you start grabbing some things, going through photos, it's not a quick trip no, no you might, you'll probably derail your day and and you absolutely need to allow yourself to do that you cannot be avoiding yeah, that, or or or watching the.
Lyle Thomson:You know the video and I I've avoided watching the videos. That's the next step for me, but yeah yeah, it's something that has to happen because you walk away feeling good. Yeah, you yeah. I shouldn't say you walk away feeling good no, but it's I.
Kyla Thomson:I need to intentionally grieve, or it's gonna be worse for me physically, mentally, emotionally in the long run. Like I, I need to intentionally grieve more and and I know how to do that now and I know how to make sure I do that now and it's something.
Lyle Thomson:Do you know how to do that? I guess just yeah, like you said, intentionally intentionally, like make the time know that.
Kyla Thomson:Okay, I'm gonna be here for a couple hours. However long it takes me to cry in this room, I'm gonna do it.
Lyle Thomson:I'm not gonna avoid it maybe just do it on a podcast I am, this is, this is intentionally grieving. Okay, intentionally I put you in a small room.
Kyla Thomson:I'd say, talk about bella, talk about potentially grief, but like, honestly, that's something that's like attached to. This is like we've had a very public life right, like we've been advocating for medical families. We have a whole online family, that that we've aimed to share joy and our story and inspiration and support and, like I don't know anyone else that, um, I shouldn't say I don't know anyone else, but it's like I feel I don't know all these people. I don't know these millions of followers on TikTok. I don't know all these people. I don't know these millions of followers on TikTok. I don't know them personally, but we've had so much support from so many people online that I feel in my heart like they're grieving too, and absolutely.
Kyla Thomson:I don't want to deny them that chance to intentionally grieve either by just like shutting down and shutting off and disconnecting and not giving them anything. No, you know what I mean, like there's no way I can do that, and so, like it's, it's they deserve something yes yes certainly, and I've always felt that way.
Lyle Thomson:I know people will tell you no, you have to take care of yourself.
Kyla Thomson:You absolutely do, I do yeah and I am and I'm learning and I'm getting counseling and, yeah, we are, yeah, we are, yeah, but I I am not leaving.
Lyle Thomson:I think everyone online in the dust, like I think you can get a lot out of doing that for yourself. I think you are right now. Yeah, you are intentionally grieving and you're also, you know, filling that that need for our everyone out there on the online community.
Kyla Thomson:Sure that matters. It's not all doom and gloom and trolls and mean people. There's people out there and, yeah, I don't know them from a hole in the wall, but they matter. They still matter. Sure, like bella's story matters to them, you know, and so that matters to me and I'm crying all over the microphone again. I don't like that. Okay, I love you guys. Um, okay, other notes that I took from what my eulogy that I wanted to like mention to talk to me yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kyla Thomson:So her, I I remembered that. Uh, her dwarfism. The story um behind, like her dwarfism has a big connection to how our tiktok story sure which I think possibly needs to be like a whole other podcast. Yeah, but um, bella had dwarfism and so, like that little bit in there where I talked about that toddler who thought she was a baby, I think a lot, of, a lot of the background behind our online story is is people seeing this young?
Lyle Thomson:girl. Oh, it's curiosity. How is this three or two year old? Yeah?
Kyla Thomson:doing these things.
Lyle Thomson:In reality, she's seven whenever it was yeah, yeah yeah, that was a lot of it.
Kyla Thomson:And then I know people would be drawn in and then not only realize, oh, she's seven and she's talking about like living in hospital with her mom and everything she's been through. Yet she's smiling and going to school and having fun and it's like. And then then the spark happens and it's like, oh, she's going what I'm going through, she has an ostomy, I have an ostomy, she's in hospital, I'm in hospital. And then we started to get letters and notes from families, like moms and dads would message me, aunties and uncles and cousins. This is how bella helped my child. This helped.
Kyla Thomson:Bella helped my niece and it was her bravery that would people really responded to yeah, being her these little things would draw them in, and then they were like wait a minute, this kid's got a story and it's a.
Lyle Thomson:It's a strong, brave story and that is um I think people are drawing it was yeah, you're obviously curious about what's going on, and then that would be. Yeah, that would be one thing, but it wouldn't be enough to to sustain someone's interest. But bella, her bravery, her personality was really why there's you know what? Why people continue to follow her is because of who she was and how much she showed how literally brave she was to be going through these things and yeah it. It always blew me away how she just didn't complain and she would keep reminding them of that she was not growl.
Lyle Thomson:She was not. She was happy with who she was.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, and she lived such a full life, yeah, in those 10 years, because she was so convinced and so dead set on just enjoying every day yeah she was not, you know, the person to sit back and and everything that you won't be about it everything that you thought would bother her did not and all understand that yeah, and and like all the people questioning and wondering, okay, well, how come she didn't care about not having any hair, how come she didn't care about having dwarfism, how come she didn't care about having an ostomy and a central line on her arm and a g-tube button and all these things?
Kyla Thomson:And and I sometimes that would get to my head, not into her head and I would do check-ins with her and make sure I was taking care of her mental health and saying, hey, honey, like, if you want to talk to mommy about any of these things, if this she'd be, like, look at me, like I have three heads. Yeah, what, what? Like no, and I would always check in because it's like these other people that would assume oh, she's got to be depressed if she, like, looks like that reasonably so, like I you would.
Kyla Thomson:You would expect someone in the in the and the trauma you would expect from a child living in hospital being pulled away from their friends, being never being able to have a sleepover and not being able to eat all the foods they want and, like she had a bowel disease, there was months where she wasn't even allowed to eat a solid food the uh wigs were always like you said, she was gifted ways.
Lyle Thomson:Those are a perfect example of very good example yeah who she was.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah she, she got gifted wigs and like that was great.
Lyle Thomson:She thought they were fun.
Kyla Thomson:Oh, she loved them, she loved them, but she wouldn't ever feel, she wouldn't want to feel, the need to wear them every day they were realistic, real wigs and they were as much a part of a costume as putting on an el dress to her.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, she, she loved her blonde hair, whether it was sparse, thin, thick at some times when she complained about the wig. So she's like they're uncomfortable.
Kyla Thomson:They're itchy, like she loved.
Kyla Thomson:She loved when I put them on but she wouldn't wear them long Like she really liked wearing them, but it would just be like like an accessory for a little while kind of thing. She'd take it off. Same with earrings. She'd like your clip-on earrings and um, she'd be like I started to hurt my ears, she'd just take them off or whatever. But um, I remember her, she wrote I think this was grade four, they were learning, I think grade four, grade three, they were learning about like their features and asked to make like a poem about their favorite feature of themselves. And she and they were like they got to take a picture and then write a little paragraph or whatever. And she wrote about her hair and a little picture of her little hair on the back of her head and she wrote I remember one sentence was like she loves how it feels when her hair blows in the wind and then whenever yeah, and whenever we go outside she's like mom.
Kyla Thomson:She loved the breeze, because the breeze she could feel the breeze blow her hair and she loved that feeling, even with, like, the small amount of hair she had. She loved that feeling. It was meant so much to her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then that was primarily what she loved, and second to that was her eyes. She loved her. I think second to that was her eyes. She loved her eyes. She loved the color of her eyes. She loved bragging about her eyes yeah, she loved bragging.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, you said that was the only feature people ever really commented on was like wow, your eyes are piercing blue. And she would. She'd be like I'm like ice blue, I thought she was.
Lyle Thomson:You say ice blue, and you're eulogy too. She was. I thought she was adamant about calling him crystal blue oh, I thought it was ice.
Kyla Thomson:Maybe I called them ice blue crystal blue she was pretty. I'm almost certain she was like crystal, crystal blue, oh maybe that's because she's like obsessed with my little pony and there was like the crystal heart and crystal this and crystal that I could be wrong too, though yeah, I don't know, but um, oh, I wrote down. When we were viewing the eulogy, I wrote down sports.
Lyle Thomson:That's so funny, like we have Waylon. Yeah. Bella's brother. Yeah, and he's six now. Yeah, and he likes hockey, he likes soccer, he likes running around, he loves drawing. Yeah, he is. He loves coloring. He likes soccer, he likes running around, loves drawing.
Kyla Thomson:Uh, yeah, he is coloring, he's so funny because he's involved in the sports. We take it or leave it. Yeah, take it, bella.
Lyle Thomson:It's competition time yeah, she's so I will learn the sport and I will learn it well, and you better be scared but we'd be in the backyard and and, like I, would play uh baseball with her or football, and when she would pick up a bat, she'd hit it every time.
Lyle Thomson:Well, you could just tell, like you can tell kids like, oh, that kid's kind of got it, they understand athletic, they understand how to, you know, shift their weight, that sort of thing, and you'd see her grab the bat and she would instantly get. She knew how to kind of, yeah, turn her hips and you know put her weight in the ball and they and had good eye contact. She was always catching the ball. Yeah, golfing, it's so funny golfing.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, same thing golfing same thing baseball basketball she had a will.
Lyle Thomson:It's so funny that she was. She's a sports kid, but I loved it and we would sit every evening not every evening, but like and she would watch hockey with me yeah, oh, she was into watching hockey football because she was a flames fan baseball. But flames fan because we spent so much time in calgary. Yeah, that's great. I mean sure, go flames whatever. Yeah, yeah, but I, I'll be a flames fan for her.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, and are you still a jets fan?
Lyle Thomson:I'm always a jets fan anyways, but she would always wake up the next morning because she would have to go to bed and first thing she would ask me that did the flames win? And last time's I I didn't know. And so we get to watch sports center together and she'd be waiting for the high the flames highlights. I'm just like what a funny kid. One of the last videos I have of her. Um, she's waiting for the flames highlight.
Kyla Thomson:So I'm just like what a funny kid. One of the last videos I have of her, she's waiting for surgery. We were at SickKids Hospital and she's sitting there waiting for surgery. You were there, Remember? And it was like that night was game seven between the Oilers and uh, where the oilers by panthers like it was like with this year it was like for the cup, yeah florida it was florida panther.
Lyle Thomson:They were in edmonton okay, it wouldn't have been game seven it was the one that was like they need to win. Oh, they might have been eliminated, or getting eliminated, sure I can't remember it was a big deal.
Kyla Thomson:Anyways, it was not the flames I said, bella, like this is a big game tonight, like we really need the oilers to win, I'm like who are you gonna cheer for? And she's like go flames, that was it call flames.
Lyle Thomson:Okay, they weren't even in the playoffs. I know they're another canadian team, but I just no, I don't care. Yeah, it was funny. I, uh, we used to watch a lot of baseball games too. Yeah, it was always. I mean, baseball is kind of like comfort food she. You don't necessarily need to pay attention, but having the audio in the background and just relaxing, yeah, with me on the bed I didn't know sorry I was.
Lyle Thomson:I mean when she was in her um coma before she passed. That was the. I guess it was a sunday that she passed away, but the saturday night I think you were back at the ron mcdowell house and I stayed with her. Yeah, I had war, didn't want to leave her side, I couldn't leave her side no, no but that father's day preceding that, she gave me that blue jays sweater she always.
Lyle Thomson:We were in toronto for a lot of father's days and it was always she wanted to get you a jersey of some sort and yeah it's a good gift, and so I wore it that night when I just wanted to spend time with her, even like she was in a coma. But we, I couldn't be resigned and she, uh, and I don't know she was. She was there with me, I was. I was there with her for the game I think that camera.
Lyle Thomson:I think they were playing seattle, so it was on the west coast, so it's super late game and jay's blew it. They sucked that night.
Kyla Thomson:It was funny I think you and the nurse laughed about that too. She was like into watching it.
Lyle Thomson:I'm like no, I yeah, and if I stayed there I don't think the game ended till 1 am, but yeah, I was never forget that yeah she was always a good gift giver, the best gift giver she was.
Kyla Thomson:She nailed every gift, ever gift she gave me so good at it yeah, yeah, it was the best gift giver, would you okay?
Lyle Thomson:so when you went out shopping with her, yeah, did you give her options and say pick one of these, or what was it?
Kyla Thomson:it was. Let's check out this store. Do you see anything that you think dad would like? And it was her.
Kyla Thomson:I remember specifically, um, I think it was the father's day before this father. This father day, she specifically picked out that um blue jays jersey for you. I remember the one year we went into indigo and she wanted to pick out a book for you because she knew you loved reading, because she would see you every night reading one of your books. You like reading novels. So I was like, okay, let's pick out a novel for dad. And so she went first to like you know how indigo has like that first table in the front and it was like best sellers or whatever right, and it was um father's day, like it was like june, so we were like thinking about getting a father's day gift. So then they had like a picks for dad table beside this bestseller table. So she's looking between those two tables and then she picked out that book for you, the one I think it's got a ship on it in the ocean.
Lyle Thomson:Oh, that book kicked ass yeah yeah, she picked that out.
Kyla Thomson:I don't like this one, sure, yeah, and the mug I would have never picked out that book.
Lyle Thomson:I want the mug. Yeah, yeah, I that book. I said I'm like I would have never went to the bookstore and bought this. I'm like I think I read like a week yeah, I'm not that fast for a reader. I was gonna say two days. I'm like there's I've, there's no book that I read in two days.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah yeah, yeah and the little craft she made she made for you and but she liked doing that with me too. Yeah, with for me, like our, uh, I mean, we had quite the not ritual every christmas oh yeah, you're shopping for me every christmas.
Lyle Thomson:She loved that we'd go downtown and hit every single store, yeah in swift current tiny town 20 000 people, so our downtown isn't big, yeah, and there might be five, six, seven really fun shops that mom's loving. She made sure to pop into everyone around christmas time and she'd always get. It was always so much fun because whenever you went with anywhere with bella, yeah, in calgary, swift current or any city, it would get it. You'd get like.
Lyle Thomson:It was almost like a party would kind of start, yeah and be like oh, hey, bella and yeah, everyone would kind of just like start vibing and chatting and be like, okay, we kind of gotta go, yeah, I, but she would always love. Yeah, because we and we'd always overspend on finding the gifts for you oh but, and then we'd always cap off that day with going to the restaurant oj's and oh, you're no, it was lunchtime sort of, or like a late.
Lyle Thomson:It was oj's original joe's yeah, yeah, and it was round two and we'd have such a fun day together because we'd always have that in our coffee dates yeah, yeah, I remember there was lots of people that asked me if she ever got like.
Kyla Thomson:It was like snorting snorting and stuff like um, people always ask me like, did you ever get sick of people coming up to you and saying hi? And I was like, honestly no. I and bella like, if she you did, I did it. But but there was even time I would be like, bella, if you don't want to talk to anyone or whatever, like let me know and I will say she's not in the mood, kind of thing. And that happened a couple times and I was always like on guard for her. But like nine times out of ten she's like no, mom, I want to say hi. Like let them say hi and I want to talk to them. And she really enjoyed that and sometimes, when she was in a really like spunky mood, she'd be like do you want my autograph? It was like almost like it was too much, but yeah, she'd get a little.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, she'd get a little. Yeah, a little head was a little big there, but um but she would know the vibe of the people that were asking to like oh, I was.
Kyla Thomson:I was gonna say there's so many times, like you noticed and my friends would notice, sometimes when we're out in public, like we miss like 50 of the people that actually want to come up to us because they're too shy well, because, as anyone, or they don't want to bug us.
Lyle Thomson:They don't want to bug you, but they don't know that I might notice I might be walking behind you. Yeah, well, I'm nobody, so I'll see them like point at you. Obviously, if they're pointing at you, they're going to be doing when you're not looking like our first year on tiktok, but I'll.
Kyla Thomson:Does bella have a dad, just not there in the videos?
Lyle Thomson:I mean, I've always been here it was also nice to when people would come up and they say, well, can I get a photo with bella? I mean, oh yeah, ask bella oh, I will never I trusted bella because I'd be like I don't know. Ask bella, she's 10. Yeah, up to well. It should be a little bit up to the parent too. I'm like, yeah, that's that's fine.
Lyle Thomson:Like creepy guys, like I don't know yeah, yeah, you're right but I would well, no, maybe I don't know I'm sure count ryan reynolds, but he's not 60 and he's not creepy but, what I'm saying is thanks for checking, but ask bella if, if she wants to, because and and sometimes she'd be like, no, I'm not into it oh yeah, and they'd be like that's okay girl yeah, she yeah, it was always up to her, and I have so many fun stories too.
Kyla Thomson:Situations like that, like the two memories that jump out in my mind is the time when there was like a hockey group of like 10 like 12 year old boys in old navy, and then the time that like, oh, I will, but then don't let me forget to talk about the police officers that called other police officers to come to the street that she oh, I will, but then don't let me forget to talk about the police officers that called other police officers to come to the street that she was on but didn't you just tell the whole story?
Kyla Thomson:no, it's more to the story. Okay, first, the, the hockey players. Okay, so you know how, like when the boys have hockey or hockey teams have hockey or whatever, and they're dressed in their suits and they have like time between games, right? So this group are like I'm pretty sure they were 12, 12 year old boys. Like bella was eight, I think she was eight and we were just walking around the mall in calgary and we were in old navy she's picking out an outfit she liked and I noticed these three little guys like elbowing each other. Yes, and they were so freaking sweet and kind and polite and they came up to me first and they're like do you mind if we say hi to Bella?
Kyla Thomson:Oh, perfect and I was like of course you can Like go ahead, she's just over there picking out clothes and they go over there. So cute and sweet and kind and I could tell Bella was a little like yeah, she'd love it. She was blushing a little bit.
Kyla Thomson:She's like I can't believe this. Yeah, and so then the boys came up. They're like hi, bella. They're like can we get a picture with you? And then it was like 10 of them like just like just came out of the woodworks and they made this like line behind her.
Lyle Thomson:It was like the whole team they were like covert, like messaging each other in corners of the different, like spaces of old navy, and then they're like, okay, it's a go and then they like all came in like it was so funny and then all of a sudden there's like 10 like 12 year old boys getting a picture getting
Kyla Thomson:snapchats. Oh, so cute, they were so sweet. And social cred yeah, they did. And then and then the funniest though was like we were at sick kids. I think was the first year we were there too and, uh, we always would walk around the perimeter of sick kids and feed the pigeons, and so we were. We were walking down the street I think was elm street. We were on anyways, we were walking to our normal corner nightmare on elm no no no po po on elm, it was a po po on elm anyways.
Kyla Thomson:Okay, so we're walking down the street and bella was like mom, there's a cop car and they were pulled over because there's always security. But there's a police officer and he was in his suv and, uh, he sees us walking towards the vehicle and we were just gonna go back inside and then he saw me pointing at the police officer and and he saw that bella was excited to see a police officer in a car, just so close up, right. So, yeah, that the police officer. And and he saw that bella was excited to see a police officer in a car, just so close up, right. So yeah, that's police officer, look at that. Maybe he'll turn his lights on or whatever, blah, blah. Then he rolled down his window and he's like are you bella? Are you bella brave?
Lyle Thomson:how old was this police officer?
Kyla Thomson:oh, probably like in his 40s, oh really yeah, 30s and 40s, and he's like.
Kyla Thomson:And he's like are you, bella brave? Oh my gosh, I can't believe this. This is Bella brave. And I'm like you're on active duty right now, is this okay? And so he gets out of his car and Bella's like can you turn the lights on for me? And he's like hold on a minute. He's like I need to radio so, and so she's in the area and he radios two of his other like co-workers I don't know what you call them, like partners or whatever.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, probably they two so did you say partners in crime, partners against?
Kyla Thomson:crime. Yes, anyways, he radios two other officers that pull up in their car, one in her car and then another one. He like kind of drove by in his truck and anyways they're all on the street by sick kids pulled over, talking to bella and she's just loving it, like, oh, let me see this and this and this. And he's like, yeah, come on in the car. Like he's letting her check out the suv, like the suv, so he lets us in the front seat. He's showing us all of his gadgets, everything. And this is the first time I've ever been in like, like the front seat of a cop car yeah, the front seat.
Kyla Thomson:Okay, I've been in the back seat of a cop car once in my life and that was I would. They were just waiting to check my stuff and then I got to drive home anyways. So we're in the front seat and I turn and I look to go. Look in the back, like where the cage is and like, mounted on the cage, is this like I don't know what it is ak-47? It's a like a meter long gun yeah like a shotgun.
Kyla Thomson:I don't know. I was like, oh, my goodness gracious. And then they like, let her like play on the. And it was just hilarious because it was like three police officers like fangirling over bella, like calling radioing other ones to come how many showed up in that three?
Lyle Thomson:oh okay, sorry, yeah three different cars wanted a picture.
Kyla Thomson:They were like with you, like my son is gonna be like, so like happy and oh, it's so endearing so cute and sweet. It was just like unexpected, like yeah, like don't you have policing to do? No, pause that I was here.
Lyle Thomson:They've, uh, social sort of obligations to do in the community right.
Kyla Thomson:Oh, if anyone called her a celebrity it was like game over, like her head could not fit on the door that was.
Lyle Thomson:We would talk her down. Yeah, we had. Okay, okay, kids settle down I don't think so.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, celebrity, she liked to take that and run with it yeah, I was thinking the one time, like just with the way we spent our evenings around here I guess it's a little off topic, but I mean it's a little outside of you know her celebrity status yeah, some of those times where, with memories with her, like in our evenings, she always treasured our evenings so much and how they had to be peaceful, watching, you know, hockey and just being, you know, calm. There's so many evenings where it was not that so, when we had peace. She loved it and it's, yeah, random memories you have, but the one I guess it was consistent when we she had to have her bedroom door open and it's just down the route oh, down from the living room, so good yeah I don't know, maybe I don't know when it's like, oh, we're gonna go outside and then we're gonna go downstairs and we're gonna stay, oh yeah no, no, you'd say that what
Lyle Thomson:okay, I'll say that oh yeah, we say good night. And then what would she say?
Kyla Thomson:she'd be like don't go outside, don't go downstairs, don't go outside like all right, I'll see you outside downstairs. Yeah it was so funny because she was like I need to know mom and dad are in the house to fall asleep and it really bothered her if we went downstairs to watch a movie, because she that's there's been.
Kyla Thomson:There was times I don't blame her she had pumps running and there's iv pumps right, and there was times there was like if her pump started beeping and we couldn't hear it, she'd wake her up and she'd cry, and so we needed to be upstairs and close and quiet no, I was thinking, it was always we would joke about being oh, we're gonna go outside, we're gonna stay outside, then we're gonna go downstairs, like because our living room wasn't too far from her bedroom.
Lyle Thomson:She would hear what we were listening to on tv and she would always get so if it was like an action movie or something. And yeah, and so of course we watched we I think I've watched the office maybe five times front to back yeah and she did.
Lyle Thomson:I don't know if she ever watched it. She loved listening to office and, yeah, she loved white. Oh yeah, if she could fall asleep. I don't know if you ever watched it. She loved listening to office and, yeah, she loved dwight. Oh yeah, if she could fall asleep. I don't know if she's ever actually ever watched an episode, but she listened to it probably three times the whole season, yeah and she'd hear us laughing yeah, and so she insisted on us watching the office.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, after she went to bed she has like comfort food it was comfort food for us and her too.
Kyla Thomson:And she has Michael Scott energy and Michael Scott humor Like a hundred percent.
Lyle Thomson:Is she Michael Scott? That's a good way to put it.
Kyla Thomson:She's like a mix of Angela and Michael Scott.
Lyle Thomson:Oh yeah, I could see some Angela in there too.
Kyla Thomson:Like the pranking and like the excitement about the pranks. Like that's Michael.
Lyle Thomson:That's Jim. Oh, that's jim. Oh, that's jim. Yeah, she's a jim. I think she was a jim. She was a jim.
Kyla Thomson:100 a jim, you're michael, I'm michael, I'm michael. Who are you? Oh, you're, uh, the print. What's his name? You're the, the maker of the show. Oh, no, the temp. The temp, ryan, you're the temp right, yeah walking in the closet. This is your office now.
Lyle Thomson:Then, who's Waylon? Who's the guy that carries a chili and spills? Who's the big guy? Kevin, kevin Waylon's. Kevin Waylon doesn't eat, though Maybe he's Andy.
Kyla Thomson:Who's Dwight's guy from the farm. Oh, moe's, moe's, I don't know it's mose just riding by the truck yeah, you're definitely michael 100. Yeah, yeah, and bella is definitely jim yeah, whalen could be dwight, because he always wanted to be michael, and whalen, I feel like, always wants to be do what I'm doing, be what I'm doing.
Lyle Thomson:That's true, like please me, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, waylon is Dwight. He's Dwight for sure, so we don't have a Pam.
Kyla Thomson:No, we don't have Pam. I wanted to share with everyone, especially in the first episode, what, what I hope this podcast will become and and who I hope to have on in the future, like where I kind of see our podcast going. Does that put a lot of pressure on you? No, I'm well. I want to say balls to the wall, but I don't know if that's too graphic.
Lyle Thomson:I'm I'm good it wasn't graphic, until you said is that really graphic? Well, I guess in the literal sense it's not super graphic, but no one was thinking that what's the saying when you're like I'm gung-ho?
Kyla Thomson:I love it because I am not that like I'm not gonna put it past me to reach out to ryan reynolds all the celebrities we've met oh, I'm not gonna put it past you that you're gonna do that oh yeah, halsey, I. Hayley wickenheiser has already said yes, I'm gonna have her on, really, oh yeah, she already said yes, no problem gold medalist yeah, a bunch of times and she met bella and we have she's worked at sick kids like we have so much to talk about.
Lyle Thomson:She was cool, like she just wanted to hang oh, she's amazing.
Kyla Thomson:She just, yeah, just check in how are things going. Bring me coffee. She bring us like food. She bring us for us like home-baked goods I never met her.
Lyle Thomson:Just like everyone else on this list, I never met her oh wait, where's my list? I didn't meet anyone you know?
Kyla Thomson:all right, let me get to people we're back home in swift current.
Lyle Thomson:Do you remember the time?
Kyla Thomson:the, the raptors game.
Lyle Thomson:Yeah, the raptors tell the raptors game story.
Kyla Thomson:You guys have to hear this well you guys know, you can tell your side of until and then I'll tell you
Kyla Thomson:I'll tell what my experience was okay, so, and then we'll go back to who I'm gonna reach out to as podcast guests. Uh, so bella and I had a friend in toronto reach out and and offer us tickets for raptors game our first ever raptors game in toronto and we were pumped to go. Bella's feeling good, we were at the ronald mcdonald house, we could go. So she gave us tickets that were like, uh, relatively close to the floor, but not like floor tickets, and so we go a bit early, make sure we're there. And, uh, bella's pump. She has a little sign that says go, raptors, go.
Kyla Thomson:And we're wearing raptors gear and we get there early and the security guard comes up to us and sees this like little girl, like super excited to see the game I know I hadn't started yet and she's like um, just like hey, like we were like where's the bathroom? How do we get to our seats, that sort of thing. So she did all that for us and we're sitting there and then about like five, five, ten minutes into the game, she comes back to us at our seats and she's like you know what? I I got two floor seats that these people aren't coming tonight. Would you guys want to move to the floor.
Kyla Thomson:We're like I'm like what? And that's when I'm like is drake here? Drake drake always sits at the floor right here and I'm pretty sure he was not there. There was a guy that looked really close to him and I had kept telling peeling. I was like no, it's not right, it's not true. Anyways, I was really hoping he was there, but he wasn't. Anyways, we go down to the floor and, uh, she's, she gets a chance to like maybe this was before the game started.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, you guys were like playing in the pre-game yeah, I forget how she or when she got us down there, but we got floor seats from the security the nice. Before the game even started, you went, got down to the floor seats and then you got to participate in the warm-ups, didn't you?
Kyla Thomson:she, she was throwing balls with the guys in warm-ups that's so funny it was amazing. She was so pumped. And then it was like I love the tiktok video I made about it, the reel I made about it, because it was exactly how that night went just full-on like hype fan having fun. We were like, yeah, like just a party right on the floor. We were just so jacked to be there and be so close to the game. And then so, um, she's dancing and you had camera.
Lyle Thomson:You had, cameras were on you cameras were all around right, like the guys that carry the camera around at the, not like yeah, yeah, they care the floor guys, they'll put a camera in her face.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, because then there's the. Oh, what's the? Is it the north side crew? The dancing like the, the cheerleaders like cheerleaders they were loving bella.
Kyla Thomson:Bella was like there for them. She was like, yeah, somewhere, talk to them before and after, and she's dancing with them and like intermission. And then that was your experience, that was my. So then bella's like bella's holding up. We're like go, rappers go, and we're like cheering, yeah. And then we see this camera come right up close and do like a close-up with us and I had no idea what camera this was for, who it was for. Turns out it was tsn. Then cut to lyle's experience.
Lyle Thomson:Oh yeah, so I yeah, waylon and I were back home in swift current swiss. Yeah, in like december wasn't?
Kyla Thomson:it. We're from saskatchewan, canada, in case anybody was wondering anyways. So we were you and waylon were back home it was like minus 30 outside and everyone was howling.
Lyle Thomson:I just got waylon in bed. Yeah, all right, let's see how the girls are doing.
Lyle Thomson:I know let's see how this game was that they are at, because I saw your tickets. It was okay seats. I'm like I won't see them, but let's see what game they're watching and it might have been. Five seconds after I turned it on, all I see is you and bella dancing literally with the camera, and they're in your face. I was like what the hell is? It was so happy for you guys. I'm like, look at me it was so funny.
Lyle Thomson:You guys had a lot of fun. Like we had the hospital was not. Yeah, that it's kind of a good, yeah, uh example of she got to experience so much yeah we hospital life, you guys made the most of hospital life, we made the most of hospital life. You were there, yeah and she, yeah, with the hospitals offer amazing things for the kids. Yeah, you take part in this activity and that activity and you took part in every single activity.
Kyla Thomson:Yeah, so that was yeah it well yeah, yeah, we definitely did not take those good days for granted when she could actually leave the hospital. Yeah, yeah, um, okay, back to future podcast guests that I really hope to have on the show at some point and topics that we want to touch on, like so many stories, but I want to have. I want to reach out to celebrities that we've met and and also inspiration for me, like other podcasts that I've listened, that I started listening to. So, for example, of course, hayley wickenheiser.
Kyla Thomson:Uh, sarah marshall is a friend of mine who is in the transplant community oh cool so I want to have lots of people from the transplant community come on here and share their experiences and share um their, you know, anything that will help transplant community because bella's like the moms or the medical teams, both yeah parents, medical teams, people have had transplants like I want.
Kyla Thomson:I would love to have, like bella's transplant doctor like dr evitz around here, or her bmt doctors like um dr right, her immunologist in calgary, yeah, 100, um. And then I want to jump right to the big guns like halsey and ryan reynolds. Uh, we like we, we need to talk, at least talk about the times that bella got to meet them, yeah, why she got to meet them and, uh, her relationship with them. Because it was. It was more than just like a celebrity contact, it was like friendship real friendship.
Lyle Thomson:There was no superficial, none I can't think of no there's nothing superficial about those. No, you know, it was not to be like put yourself out there to this kid.
Kyla Thomson:No, that was not the case no, yeah, um, and then, of course, like kat and dave foster, yeah, for the david foster foundation that supports transplant families, but also haven't met them twice. Um, I also would love to reach out to renee from the mom room podcast, the the way she runs her podcast and the way she chat. She's so funny and she's so smart and I just I love her podcast. Um, alicia mccarvel girl, I need to have you on my podcast. Like she's so flippin funny. Also, these ladies are canadian and I met alicia when I was in toronto right, and sarah from the birds papaya, first podcast I ever started listening to. Uh, what else do we got on here? Yeah, bella's doctors, nurses, teachers, my friends, your friends, like our friends.
Kyla Thomson:Oh, we gotta have some friend chats like some, some like you know like that's great, you know, like kim and I on here talking about our skincare or something like that I don't know medical mom friends also I love how ambitious you are.
Lyle Thomson:This is great also we.
Kyla Thomson:I mean, we've never actually got to talk to bella's bone marrow donor, inga. Right, she lives in Germany, she's a nurse with two boys. We've only messaged on Facebook Messenger.
Lyle Thomson:That's cool.
Kyla Thomson:That would be amazing to have her on a Zoom call and her experience with being a donor, a bone marrow donor. Bella is her recipient, of course, and then, of course, I have a relationship with Bella's bowel donor mom and her four-year-old son was the the boy, bella's bowel donor, and so I talk with her, maddie and uh just to talk to her for the first time.
Kyla Thomson:We've only ever messaged each other and, and uh, send photos. We've never actually spoke to each other like on the phone or on a facetime right, yeah, oh, you've drawn me in yeah, like we got it, like we gotta have those conversations like I mean, you're here right now, bella's uh bone marrow transplant was in 2015, right, like, um, yeah, so that's where I want to go with this.
Lyle Thomson:I want to go far and beyond brave oh, that was totally like, just like I just did. What is that? I'll put you on the spot why beyond brave did we thought of?
Kyla Thomson:I thought of that, that was you thought of my brain.
Lyle Thomson:I was just, I was thinking I asked you I'm like what are you gonna do your podcast? And you threw out this home run. I was like whoa, yeah, all right. No, no more conversation yeah, it was.
Kyla Thomson:I was, you know, thinking and thinking and thinking and I'm like I was stuck on this one hard. I was like I just can't think of anything more like what. I want it to be beyond brave. I don't want it to just be only brave stories and only medical stories. I want it to be beyond that. I want it to be how, how others, how bella's inspired others, and now you know um and their story in relation to her, but also their story on their own, um, and just the unique experiences we've had.
Kyla Thomson:That is just that. I know that nobody else has ever had Right. And then, on top of that, being a medical family and knowing lots of other medical families, you feel so closed in those hospital walls and no one ever really goes beyond that or talks beyond that. And I feel like, with the platforms I've, I have, I want to make use of them in a positive way and going beyond just being brave and helping others that have not only been a part of our story but we've inspired theirs, theirs and I. I just think like that it'll. It beyond brave allows, allows us to keep that deep connection to bella's legacy, for her legacy project right and do this for her, make this for her, intentionally grieve and support others at the same time.
Lyle Thomson:Share stories that are that are helpful, inspiring, joyful I love that intentionally grieve, yeah, like you said, and yeah, yeah it's hard but it's necessary it feels yeah, not necessarily good, but right yeah yeah I mean, this is like it's also yeah, it's just that we have, we have time to talk like what else do we make time to intentionally creep like this?
Kyla Thomson:you know, we're on our phones, we're playing our games or we're watching movies and that's good, like relaxing time, it's time like for ourselves, but to sit down and talk and share with our community. We're not just helping ourselves, we're helping other people too, and I think, like that's always been my drive, for anything I share online is helping others. It's like, why? Why do it if you're not helping someone Even yourself, if it's just you, or if it's someone else and sharing helps get that out there, do it, yeah, good, need it, yeah, you. Or if it's someone else and sharing helps get that out there, do it. Do it good, let's need it, yeah, okay. Well, that's a wrap on our very first episode yeah, it's pretty exciting.
Lyle Thomson:Um, we talked a lot about sharing and I think if anyone wants to share, you know they're grieving with us and their feedback yeah, their feedback and slip into our dms and suggestions slip into our dms.
Kyla Thomson:Very uh gen z of you, but honestly, thank you all for listening. We are just so excited that you've stayed with us until the very end here, and uh, what else should we tell them?
Lyle Thomson:Have a great day.
Kyla Thomson:Stay brave. Where are we? Knock knock. Who's there? Bella Bella, who? We're in the Bella Vader. We're in the Bella Vader, you win. We're in the elevator.
