Kintsugi Heroes
Kyle Spyrides · 49 min
At 18, Kyle Spyrides was placed in an induced coma with a bug eating a hole in his heart and given little chance of survival — what followed was a defiant, family-fuelled journey through natural healing, open-heart surgery, and a discovered destiny to empower others.
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At 18, two months out of school, Kyle Spyrides collapsed at home with a fever that wouldn't break. A three-centimetre infection was eating into his heart. The doctors gave him a 33 percent chance of survival when he arrived at hospital and placed him in an induced coma, telling his family he was unlikely to make it through the night.
When Kyle woke a week later, his stepfather Ward presented two options: open-heart surgery to remove the infected tissue, or a strict alkaline diet to starve the infection. Kyle chose the diet, trusting Ward because Ward had earned that trust over years of showing up for him. For six weeks in the hospital day surgery room, Kyle followed the regimen while staff questioned his choices daily. At the three-week mark, scans showed the infection had shrunk from three centimetres to 0.2 centimetres. But the damaged tissue remained. A year later, at 20, Kyle had the open-heart surgery to repair his heart. The operation was successful.
What pulled Kyle back to life wasn't the treatment alone. It was an army of people. His grandparents had taken him in at 14 when he had nowhere to go. During his hospital stay, a core group of five people visited him constantly, their genuine care and love reaching him even in the coma. After he was discharged, his grandfather was dying at home, and Kyle spent a week caring for him, holding his hand through his final moments. That's when Kyle understood what family meant across generations.
Today, Kyle has written a book and built a photography business. His mission is to reach people who don't have a Clive and Diana in their life the way he was blessed to have. His message is simple: find people who will call your bullshit, who see your potential and expect you to live up to it. Surround yourself with an army, not a solo mission.
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