SCARBOROUGH – Kyle St. Clair, a Scarborough boy who was the subject of an outpouring of community support through the years, has lost his lifelong battle with lung and digestive disease.
“After 8-plus years of fighting, our love doesn’t need to fight anymore. Kyle William St.Clair passed away here, at home, this morning with his family his side,” wrote the family, Tuesday, on the Team Kyle Facebook page. “We can’t say enough about what joy this boy has brought to us in his short time on earth. So much love. Thank you to all for the support you have given to him and to us.”
The posting generated more than 2,500 replies in less than 24 hours, also praising Kyle’s long battle though more than 45 surgeries. “Brave” and “heroic” was the common assessment in the messages of sympathy and support.
The Current profiled St. Clair earlier this year.
Born premature, Kyle St. Clair spent the first nine months of his life in Maine Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That, however, was only the beginning of his struggles. As a toddler, he was diagnosed with dysmotility, a disease in which the muscles of the digestive system do not work properly. He underwent 14 surgeries by age 6 and still had to have nutrients pumped into his body through an intravenous system.
More hospital stays followed and the Scarborough community came together for several fundraisers in the last few years to help Kyle and his mother, Kate St. Clair, travel back and forth to specialists in Boston and Columbus, Ohio, to treat his medical conditions, while her father Mark stayed home with the families other children, Alexis and Jackson.
Kate St. Clair was elected to the Scarborough Town Council in November, citing a desire to enter public service as a way to give back to the community.
Funeral and service arrangements have not been announced at this time.
Kyle St. Clair, 7, gives the thumbs-up sign. A fundraiser is being held on April 28 to support the Scarborough resident’s namesake charity, Team Kyle, as well as the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. (Courtesy photo)Send questions/comments to the editors.
