The Carebridge

About the Book

Death can be devastating for loved ones left behind. And when a child dies, it can be even more devastating. The demise of eight-year-old Kwame Kyler is indeed a case in point. But remarkably in his death is born a renewed hope for many.

Given only six months to live at birth, Kwame astonishes all with his amazing continued improvement of his serious heart defect. His determination to avoid a looming death is only surpassed by his zestful approach to life. In August of 1980, he is medically cleared to finally fulfill his two year dream of joining his friends on their youth football team. Then tragically, at his first practice session, Kwame Kyler collapses and dies.

This is the story of how his loving parents find the courage to cope with this tragedy, as they are aided by the unexpected and unlikely support from strangers in a community hundreds of miles away. These two racially diverse communities bond in a joint effort to remember and honor this heroic little boy. And in the end, Kwame Kyler’s tragic death evolves triumphant as it provokes the rendering of life altering enlightenments through the crossing of cultural lines.

“Rick, you’ve been chosen and assigned the

mission to deliver this inspirational story.”

-The Rev. Geri Kyler-

Kwame Kyler’s mother

About the Author

Ricky D. Willis is a Nashville Tennessee native who attended public schools and college in the Music City, and still resides in his beloved State.  The Carebridge is his first attempt at writing a manuscript of this magnitude.  He lists his major accomplishments as: Mary Katherine (Mitchell) Willis and all their children and grandchildren, along with the Kyler family entering his life in 1980.  After leaving college early, he joined the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department in 1969 and received a full service pension in 2003, retiring with the rank of sergeant. 

For many years, he has dreamed of sharing this paramount and life altering chapter of his life.  During those same years, he also dreamed of establishing the (non-profitable) Kwame Kyler Foundation.  The goals for this inspiring project are to aid and assist medically ill children, while keeping alive Kwame Kyler’s legacy which is:  Kwame Kyler’s heroic short yet inspirational life and untimely tragic death provoked the crossing of cultural lines and brought to past this moving and inspiring story, which indeed exemplifies Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s eloquent dream of tenable equality.