Christine Egan Physical Therapy

Though 12-year-old Rhett Krawitt has just completed sixth grade at Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon, CA, he already brings an insightful perspective to the current pandemic. He has noticed how the anti-vaccination movement has fallen out of the mainstream media cycle as people yearn for a COVID-19 vaccine. Rhett said he thinks many anti-vaccination parents have had a change of heart.

“During the measles outbreak, a lot of people didn’t want to get vaccinated because they thought that it would never hit them,” Rhett said. “But with this pandemic, I feel like people are going to get vaccinated because somebody they know is going to get sick or die from the virus.”

When Rhett was entering Kindergarten, he emerged as a superstar spokesperson for mandatory childhood vaccinations during the height of California’s 2015 measles outbreak. Rhett could not receive his routine vaccinations because — during his four year battle against leukemia — chemotherapy had severely compromised his immune system. He relied on the aggregate vaccinations of everyone in his community to avoid infection, known as herd immunity (another term in the new pandemic vernacular). The Krawitt family was concerned, as Marin County had one of the highest “personal belief” vaccination opt-out rates in the state.

“We just didn’t think it was fair for someone who could get their kid vaccinated to preclude our kid from going to school,” Carl Krawitt, Rhett’s father, said.

The Krawitts began by asking the county health officer to bar unvaccinated kids from attending Rhett’s school. After outlets like The New York Times, ABC News, and NPR chronicled their story, Rhett’s advocacy role ballooned. Rhett and Carl’s testimony to the California State Assembly helped pass Senate Bill 277, which removed the option for parents to claim a “personal belief” vaccination exemption. Rhett traveled to Washington DC in 2014 on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) to lobby in favor of provisions in the Affordable Care Act to improve access to medicine for blood cancer patients. In 2017 Rhett spoke at a town hall hosted by Congressman Jared Huffman for California’s 2nd Congressional District attended by more than 3000 people.

“Rhett is a brilliant kid and an incredible public speaker,” Carl said. “At the age of five or six he could get up and talk to an audience of 5, or 5,000 people.”

Rhett’s incredible advocacy work would not have transpired had it not been for the care of doctors and therapists. Several times during the course of his cancer, the family thought Rhett had taken a turn for the worst. Jodi Krawitt, Rhett’s mother, is still in awe of how Rhett has emerged as a well-rounded person despite his early trauma.

“I still think of him as my hero because no one should have to go through all of that,” Jodi said. “And to do it and come out a great person says a lot. I’m glad he doesn’t feel sorry for himself.”

The Krawitts were mildly concerned when Carl took three-year-old Rhett to the hospital for a toe infection. Many of Rhett’s initial symptoms seemed commonplace: bruising, fevers, nosebleeds, rashes — all easy to overlook individually. But when added up in light of the infection, the symptoms pointed doctors towards a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Blood tests confirmed the doctors’ suspicions.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, 90 percent of children with ALL are ultimately cured with stages of chemotherapy. After the initial few weeks of treatment in the hospital, most children with ALL can receive their rest of their treatment at home. However, Rhett encountered a series of infections and complications that kept him in his UCSF hospital room for 87 days. Jodi vividly remembers carrying Rhett out of the car as they took him home. Her son was bald and puffy and had numerous, intimidating medical tubes protruding from him.

“He literally could not walk,” Jodi said.

While the chemotherapy was attacking Rhett’s cancerous cells, it was sapping his physical strength. Rhett had begun rehab at the hospital, but needed the help of physical therapists Christine Egan MPH, PT C/NDT  and her associate Carrie Purvis DPT to learn how to walk again and regain his stamina.

Rhett was too young to recall much of his physical therapy, but Jodi remembered Carrie and Christine coming to the house, bringing therapy balls, toys and balancing tools. Jodi said she got frustrated watching Rhett struggling to walk. She never had thought of walking as something a child would have to consciously learn. It did not feel fair.

“When you’re sick, it’s not just the primary [disease],” Jodi said, “it’s everything about you holistically that you have to manage.” Jodi and Carl were consumed with Rhett’s recovery. The therapy sessions were cherished moments where someone else was in control.

“I can clearly remember the first time I met Rhett,” Christine said. “He was sitting on the sofa, bald and shivering with a blanket wrapped around him. He looked so vulnerable. I could only imagine what he had been through with his chemo treatments and extended hospital stay. We slowly climbed the stairs to his bedroom where we worked on his PT twice a week for over two years.”

Carrie Purvis DPT guided Rhett through his entry to preschool and kindergarten, gently facilitating his return to the community and restoring a sense of normalcy.

Thankfully vaccination rates in Marin increased, and there was no outbreak of vaccine preventable disease at Rhett’s school. Today his system has recovered and he is fully vaccinated. He’s settled into a routine that’s more typical for a 12-year-old: his life revolves around school, he plays all kinds of sports and he enjoys reading. But his childhood advocacy exposure has left its mark. Rhett said his numerous speeches and interviews have prepared him for class presentations or other large group gatherings. He also makes a point to watch news programs like 60 Minutes to stay up to date with current events.

 “I guess I’ve always wanted to know what’s going on and know what’s happening in our world so that I’m not surprised,” Rhett said.

Rhett still works with the LLS helping with fundraising efforts like  their annual regatta race, where he is an honorary captain. He said he does not get nervous before his doctors checkups. Cancer is not on his mind anymore — he does not even remember most of that period of his life. Though, he does recognize what recovering from cancer can feel like for kids desperately trying to find stability.

“They’re struggling to be normal kids,” Rhett said of those with cancer, “and the more you accept them the better they feel.”