GAYLORD —  For Kayla Hassell, life offers a lot for which to be thankful. She likes drawing, swimming, singing and, like most 13-year-olds, Kayla likes hanging out with friends, listening to music and watching movies.

But when it comes to heroes, there’s only one choice in Kayla’s eyes. And for that, she’ll always be thankful.

Kayla’s big brother, 14-year-old Tyler Hassell, has ADHD and seizures. At 8 years old, he was diagnosed with an arachnoid brain cyst and a heart murmur.

And when she had to write a paper about her biggest hero, Kayla knew right away who to write about. For his strength, courage and positive attitude, Tyler is Kayla’s hero.

“He is a champion in my eyes,” Kayla wrote in her essay.

But these siblings aren’t any different from others: She still rolls her eyes when she doesn’t like something Tyler says and he still storms out of the room in frustration.

“They fight like normal brother and sister,” said their mother, Marsha Hassell. “But she stands up for him. She doesn’t look at him as any different — but everyone else does.”

For last year’s writing assignment, Kayla had to write on the topic, “the most terrifying 15 minutes of my life.”

“I wrote about when we found out about Tyler’s brain cyst,” Kayla said.

She earned an A on that paper, as she did on this year’s hero paper — an entry in the America and Me Essay Contest.

“Most kids wrote about their mom and dad,” said Kayla of her hero assignment. “My mom and dad are my heroes, too, but I wanted to do something different and I knew my brother was my hero more than anyone.”

Tyler’s health issues scare Kayla. She doesn’t like that other kids treat him differently and she fears he’ll get hurt.

“If he gets hit in the head hard enough it could kill him,” Kayla said. “What scares me the most is he could die.”

This year Tyler entered Gaylord High School as a freshman, leaving his little sister behind as an eighth-grade student at Gaylord Middle School.

“I miss seeing her,” Tyler said of his sister. “If we were at the same school I could see her at lunch.”

In his free time Tyler likes building with Legos and K’nex and loves to hunt and fish.

“I can sit on a fishing dock all day,” he said.

He likes to hang out with his family and his dogs and when he grows up he would like to be a builder, mechanic or a plumber.

Kayla dreams of being a veterinarian and studies hard on her schoolwork.

But more importantly, she’s thankful for her hero and hopes others can see the Tyler through her eyes.

“I’m praying that someday people will see him for the hero he really is, and he will be the one in the spotlight,” Kayla wrote. (See her entire essay at left).

Contact Jil Schult at 748-4518 or jil@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

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