While connected to a heart monitor and on heavy medication, 18-year-old Methuen High School senior Brett Wiegref pushed himself upright in his bed at Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
Principal Arthur Nicholson, along with guidance counselors Richard Brain and Gary Dionne, and school nurse Eileen McCarthy, then held a bedside graduation for the freckled, baby-faced teen.
Wiegref suffered from Diamond Blackfan anemia, a disease so rare only 500 people in the United States are reported to have it.
Wiegref's mother Corinna Grasso whispered into her son's ear that he was going to receive his diploma. Hospital workers delivered cake and balloons. Friends and family spilled into the hallway.
Nicholson spoke about Wiegref's spirit, work ethic and dedication. "And then I ended it by saying, 'We all just love you,'" Nicholson said.
Wiegref could only spend three to four hours in school each day because of fatigue. He received a blood transfusion once a month and was diagnosed with diabetes last year. Then, in August, doctors installed a heart pacemaker and defibrillator.
"His high school diploma meant so much to him because he had worked so hard over the last four years to make sure he was going to be there at graduation," Nicholson said.
Aside from graduation, Wiegref also looked forward to attending his senior prom. So after the ceremony, his girlfriend, 17-year-old Methuen High sophomore Melana Winegar, donned a red prom dress with a bodice detailed with gems.
"We got flowers for them and played music. We all held hands and swayed in his room," Wiegref's mother said in an interview at the family's Madison Street home.
That night, doctors said the drugs couldn't stop Wiegref's heart from failing and they turned his heart monitor off and stopped medicating him at 10:30 p.m.
"At that point, we had told him there was nothing more we could do," Grasso said. "He was very, very brave, he didn't shed one tear."
Wiegref held on until the next afternoon. Around 4 p.m., his mother had barely eaten, so her boyfriend took her to buy food.
Wiegref's girlfriend stayed behind. She fell asleep holding his hand.
That's when he died.
"He waited for us all (the family) to leave the room," his mother said.
Wiegref had been fighting the disease since infancy. Nicholson called him "a courageous young man whom I've had the highest admiration and respect for."
Despite her heartache, Grasso found something positive to focus on: Her son is an organ donor and his death will help others.
"So we feel that that's just such a wonderful gift," she said.
Wiegref's family held fundraisers this year and last year for the Diamond Blackfan Anemia Foundation, which pays for medical research and hosts camps, support groups and other activities for patients and their families.
Wiegref didn't feel well when his family held this year's fundraiser March 21. He had congestive heart failure and ended up being hospitalized and didn't return home until the Monday before Easter.
Events took a turn for the worse about two weeks ago.
"We're going to miss that spunky attitude," Grasso said.
"He was a tough kid," said Bob Perreault, his mother's boyfriend, who regrets that Wiegref won't be there to watch his mother marry Perreault this fall.
Wiegref met his girlfriend, Winegar, through school, and the couple dated for six months.
"He was a really, really good person," she said. "He was just so good to me."
Winegar went to all of Wiegref's medical appointments and made sure he took his medicine, Grasso said.
"I always said to Brett that she was his guardian angel," Grasso said.
For fun, Wiegref enjoyed shopping, playing poker and going out to eat.
Nicholson announced to students Thursday that Wiegref died peacefully the day before. The school had a moment of silence, then students filled a 4-by-8 foot poster with goodbye messages.
Before he died, Grasso assured her son that she will keep raising money for Diamond Blackfan Anemia victims.
"I made it clear that if I couldn't find a cure for him, I would continue to find a cure," she said.
Arrangements
Wiegref's wake will be Monday, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Cataudella Funeral Home, 126 Pleasant Valley St. The funeral service will be Tuesday morning at the funeral home.
