Students Use Web Cam To Talk To Classmate
Technology is helping a little boy with cancer stay in touch with his friends in school. Ian Keisacker is a first-grader at Holy Spirit in Sioux Falls and gets a weekly visit from his classmates through a webcam. Every Tuesday, a group of Holy Spirit first graders get to say “hello” to a friend who hasn’t been in school since February. “It’s called a webcom, and it makes it travel to Rochester. We can talk to it and there’s like a TV he can watch it on,” classmate Broc Schaefbauer said. Ian Keisacker is getting chemotherapy and radiation at Mayo Clinic, for a tumor on his brain stem. It nearly took his life six weeks ago and his classmates have been thinking of him every day since.
“We pray for him and we make rosaries. We pray every day and we see him every week,” classmate Maddie Thie said.
The cancer is gone now, but Ian will continue chemo for at least another year. These visits have helped his recovery because he gets to see his friends and catch up on what’s going on in school. Tuesday, Ian surprised his class by showing them his balding head for the first time. His father Rob, who’s in Rochester with Ian, will shave his head too. Instead of being scared, the kids thought Ian’s new look was cool and even reminded them of Star Wars characters, his favorite movie. “He’s going to look like Darth Vader, and his dad’s going to look like Obi-Wan,” Schaefbauer said.
Ian’s mother is touched to see the class’ outpouring of support. “You can tell the kids really miss him and he misses them. They can relate and talk on kid terms,” Nicole Keisacker said. “I just like to see him, see how he’s doing, see if he’s happy,” Thie said. By the looks of things, he is. Doctors just told the family Ian may get to come home in three weeks and finish out treatment in Sioux Falls. Skype – cheap international calls
