Requesting Emigration of Mother : Comatose Boy’s Kin Seeks Hanoi’s Aid

Kiet Le was just 5 years old when he last saw his mother on the Vietnamese shore.

Fearful that pirates would harm the family’s women and younger children, Kiet’s father decided that only he and the boy would take that boat ride out of the war-ravaged country 11 years ago.

Kiet’s sister, Pauline, remembered that as they whispered their goodbys, her father promised to reunite the family soon.

This week, everyone from Kiet’s classmates at La Quinta High School in Westminster to Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) is trying to fulfill that pledge and get Kiet’s mother and two other siblings out of Vietnam. But the reunion will be bittersweet.

Kiet, 16, is in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange after collapsing during a junior varsity football game Friday. He is connected to life-support systems in the intensive-care unit, his chances for survival “grim,” his sister said Tuesday.

Pauline Le, 23, who emigrated here by herself in 1982, said she has been working through U.S. and Vietnamese officials to expedite the emigration of her mother and two younger brothers. She hopes to delay telling them about Kiet’s condition until they arrive.

Dozens of Kiet’s friends have visited him since Friday. They stay in his room, whispering “get well” into his ear. His closest friends are too young to drive to the hospital, so they car-pool with the upperclassmen, many of whom also know him well.

“I told him, ‘I’m praying for you,’ and I’m with him all the way,” said Ryan Powell, 15, who has spent hours by his friend’s bedside. “I told him I missed him.”

Pauline said her father, a gardener who speaks little English, had trouble grasping the seriousness of his son’s condition.

“He couldn’t believe that Kiet could be that sick. Then after he knew how bad it was, he became so tired,” she said.

The two of them now keep a vigil beside Kiet’s bed.

“We tell Kiet, ‘Hang on, hang on.’ I don’t know whether he can hear us. But I know he cares about his mother. She has to see him before anything. . . .” She was unable to finish the sentence.

Kiet, a sophomore at La Quinta who played defensive end for the junior varsity, had huddled with the team before a play Friday during a game with Westminster High School, La Quinta principal Andrew McTaggart said Tuesday.

Minutes before, Kiet had tackled an opposing player. When Kiet’s team came out of its huddle and lined up on the scrimmage line, Kiet stumbled and collapsed, McTaggart said.

He was rushed to the medical center, where he underwent emergency surgery. Spokeswoman Fran Tardiff said Tuesday that Kiet has considerable swelling of the brain and that doctors who treated Kiet believe that the cause could be acute trauma, but they are unsure. She declined to discuss his prognosis.

After Kiet was sent to the hospital, the La Quinta Aztecs went on to win the game, said Kiet’s friend, Ryan Powell. “We had no choice,” he said. “We dedicated the game to him.”

Kiet’s teammates have been collecting money for a scholarship fund in his name for two days, putting the money in a tissue box. But the donations grew to $600 on Tuesday, too much for a small box to hold.

Dornan, who has been asked by La Quinta officials to intervene on behalf of the Le family, said he has contacted the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, as well as officials in the National Security Council. He said the embassy is waiting for a response from the Vietnamese government.

If the Vietnamese government allows Le’s family to leave, Dornan said, the United States would provide transportation because of the urgency of Kiet’s condition.

“It’s in the hands of the Vietnamese government,” he said. “The frequency of response is heartbreakingly erratic. We hope they will respond to pleas for human kindness.”

Pauline Le said the three family members have been on a waiting list and had been scheduled to emigrate within months.

As she sat in the hospital waiting room Tuesday, she recalled how proud she is of her brother’s accomplishments--the number of clubs he has joined, the number of friends he has and the number of sports he has played. As she spoke, she clutched in her hands dozens of get-well cards from friends and teachers.

“I said to him, ‘If you wake up, I would let you do whatever you wanted to do.’ He wanted to run for class president, but I told him no, he was too busy already,” she said.

A Practical Joker

La Quinta assistant principal Patty Howell said Kiet is mischievous and often played practical jokes. He once got two school identification cards made--one in which he posed with a comical, happy face, the other with a sad-puppy-dog expression. He would flash them alternately when he had to show identification.

“He has the kind of face that makes you smile,” Howell said.

And Kiet had the kind of personality that made you want to be friends with him, said Bruce Tran, 16, who went to junior high school with him as well.

They joined the football team in their freshman year, becoming close friends.

They would eat lunch together and talk about girls, teachers and other school things. They talked about getting their driver’s licenses and what car they would like to own.

And sometimes, although not often, Kiet talked about his mother.

“I remembered one time he was so excited because his mother was (eventually) coming here,” Tran said. “He didn’t talk about her a lot. But when he did, he was so happy, like he missed her a lot.”