Fifteen-year-old Franklin Ingalls got a standing ovation a few weeks ago that was a gift like none other in a young life wracked with pain.
He was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease at age 12. Most know the disease as HLH because the full name is too hard to pronounce. It is an immune deficiency disorder so serious that until 1994, nobody who had it survived.
Battling this disease, he and his family went through many trials and tribulations in 2021 and ’22. Probably the most encouraging boost Franklin got in the early stages wasn’t from any medication, but rather a message from the school he attended at the time, Caroline Dormon Junior High School. It was in response to a video message from him to the school that he was about to undergo chemotherapy at Ochsner’s Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.
“They sent a picture of every kid at the school praying on their knees for him at the school gym,” said Jason Ingalls, his father, a native of Hicks who is the founder and CEO of an information security firm in Alexandria. “I’m not really big into social media,” he went on, “but the amount of support we received from social media through all this was incredible.”
Another highlight that later bore fruit had to do with music, one of Franklin’s first loves and one of his gifts. One November afternoon, the folks at Ochsner’s Children’s Hospital allowed him to play a grand piano in the atrium. A self-taught pianist, the young, sickly Franklin proceeded to play the “Turkish March” by Mozart. This amazed everyone who was there.
Franklin’s mom, Amanda, an OB-GYN, was like an extra nurse for her son, especially when he and the family went to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for Franklin to get a bone marrow transplant that was necessary to save his life. She slept on a couch in his room five days a week for six weeks while helping administer to his needs.
And the donor who, without hesitation, volunteered to donate his blood was his older brother, Isaac, who qualified as a perfect match.
“They put Isaac to sleep for the donation (process),” said Jason. “It took two hours, and he was back in the pool swimming competitively for ASH a week-and-a-half later.
The transplant was the same day. Franklin was playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on a ukulele a few weeks later at the request of the nurses, and on April 4, 2022, he rang the bell – the ritual ceremony cancer survivors do before leaving the hospital.
Franklin later was invited to apply to have a wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he asked for a baby grand piano.
“I really didn’t think they’d agree because those things are very expensive,” Franklin said.
Amanda said in the “Make-A-Wish” vetting process, she was asked if Franklin could indeed play a piano, and, if so, could she provide proof? Well, she sent a video of his playing the “Turkish March” as a sick patient.
The response, she said, was, “What color does he want?”
After getting his wish, he was invited to entertain a crowd of 750 people at the inaugural Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana Gala on May 3rd at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston.
Before a mesmerized audience, he played Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement.” This is a piece, according to yourclassical.org, that “reminds you that even during the uncertain moments in life, it’s going to be all right in the end.”
When he finished, according to Jason, who was there with Amanda, the crowd of 750 gave him a standing ovation. “A good 20 seconds,” gushed Franklin, whose expression after he bowed in his white tie and tails, spoke volumes.
“When he got back to the table,” said Jason, “he told the Make-A-Wish staff that he felt like he’d been given two wishes because he got to be a concert pianist that night.”
Thinking of that grand moment, after all he had been through the last few years, Franklin said, “That was priceless!”
And, don’t you know, he earned every bit of it.