JOHNSON COUNTY

At 510 pounds, Franklin 14-year-old gets weight-loss help

By Vic Ryckaert
vic.ryckaert@indystar.com
Eric Ekis, a freshman at Franklin High School in Franklin IN, started high school weighing in at around 500 lbs. Thanks to the help of teachers Don Wettrick and Leslie Groce he has started to exercise more and has started better eating habits. Here Eric,middle, begins the day by stretching with his classmates.

Eric Ekis walked into the classroom at Franklin Community High School and slunk into a seat in the back. He wanted, as he had for most of his life, to be invisible.

But that wasn't really possible. Not when you are a 14-year-old freshman who stands 6-feet, 4-inches tall and weighs 510 pounds.

His classmates noticed. They made fun of him and taunted him. His English teacher Don Wettrick also noticed. Not long after the start of the school year, Eric pried himself out of a desk at the end of class. Wettrick then realized what Eric had left behind — a desk bent and broken under his weight.

Wettrick pulled Eric aside after class and invited him to exercise in the mornings. Eric declined.

Days passed and Eric became more self-conscious. Eventually, he refused to go to the cafeteria. He couldn't stand to eat while suffering the judgmental gaze of classmates.

By late September, Wettrick was deeply concerned. Eric appeared disheveled and depressed. The teacher reached out again, determined that this time, he would not let his student slink away.

"Eric," Wettrick asked, "when did you give up?"

"When my dad died," Eric replied.

Eric began to cry. So did Wettrick.

"Buddy," Wettrick told him, "I'm not going to let you die."

What happened in the months that have followed — and what continues today — is nothing short of one school's mission to change Eric's life: to build his confidence, to change his health, to save him from an obesity problem that plagues far too many in the state.

Indiana is the eighth most obese state in the nation, according to the 2013 F as in Fat report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Of the about 1.6 million children living in Indiana, 17 percent or about 270,000, are obese, said Laura Hormouth, nutrition coordinator for the Indiana Department of Health's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Given his girth, Eric's situation is special. So is the effort of his classmates, who now are far more likely to offer words of encouragement than a hurtful remark, to ask Eric to join them for a walk than to shun him and to take notice of their own eating habits.

Along the way, his teachers say, Eric the invisible has become Eric the inspiration.

"I was that one kid that always hid from everything," Eric said. "Now that everyone's started helping me, I feel a whole lot better."

A weighty history

Eric always has been bigger than most kids his age. Around age 2, he was often mistaken for a 4-year-old. His mother Laura said that their family includes others with weight issues.

But his mother also explains that three years ago, when Eric was 11, he was hit with two blows that intensified his weight gain. First, his father, Sam Ekis, died of a brain aneurism in May 2010. Later that year, still reeling from the loss, Eric slipped on a wet floor and shattered his leg.

The devastating injury led to a series of surgeries. Doctors pieced bones together with screws and rods. They broke his other leg to stop it from growing longer than the damaged one.

Eric could not walk for several months. Slowly he transitioned from wheelchair, to walker, to cane and finally to walking on his own.

By the time the family moved to Franklin in 2011, Eric was larger than ever and sliding deeper into depression.

Then came freshman year.

Eric came to the attention of teachers and peers on his first day of high school.

It was obvious to Eric and all around him that his weight was out of control. Embarrassed and ridiculed for years, he was yearning for help but afraid to ask.

It might have stayed that way if not for Wettrick's intervention.

"He just really wanted to help me," Eric said, reflecting on his exchange with Wettrick. "That's really what connected."

Franklin High School freshman Eric Ekis begins the day stretching with his classmates.

Getting to work

In addition to English, Wettrick teaches an independent study class that allows students to work on projects.

One of his students, Kevin Stahl, was searching for a project. Wettrick had an idea: Eric. He suggested that Kevin help Eric become healthier.

"We just started walking," Kevin said. "I didn't know what to say at first. I've never been in a situation like this before."

In the cliquish high school caste system, seniors just don't talk to freshman. Kevin is on the school's swim team and doesn't socialize much outside of his tight circle of friends.

Under most circumstances, a kid like Kevin doesn't get to know a kid like Eric.

But Kevin worked with Eric last fall. They consulted a dietitian at Johnson Memorial Hospital, and Eric started watching what he ate.

They walked together until school ended for Christmas break.

"At first you didn't notice a huge difference, but now he can run and he looks healthier," Kevin said. "Before he was pretty shy and didn't want to talk to anybody, now I see him talking to people all the time."

Through this journey, Eric and Kevin say they have become best friends.

"I'm proud of him," Kevin said. "This is how peers can help out and influence each other in a positive way."

Still, the pounds haven't exactly melted away. In truth, Eric's transformation so far has been more emotional than physical.

Eric Ekis, a freshman at Franklin High School in Franklin IN, started high school weighing in at around 500 lbs. Thanks to the help of teachers Don Wettrick and Leslie Groce he has started to exercise more and has started better eating habits. Here Eric and his classmates do yoga after their morning walk.

Positive peer pressure

Lesleigh Groce teaches alternative education classes at the high school focusing on students in crisis. She, too, is helping Eric — including dishing out a dose of tough love.

After losing some weight initially, Eric packed on pounds over the long holiday break and subsequent snow days.

During a recent class, Eric fidgeted in the chair, his face reddening as Groce told him she would expect more effort in coming weeks.

"I want you to know that I may push, I may say things that make you mad," she said.

"You're gonna sweat," Groce promised, voice cracking as tears welled. "But it's gonna be OK."

Eric, Groce and more than a dozen students now walk every school day, covering the entire building, about a half-mile, in seven minutes. About twice a week, the 45-minute walk is followed by yoga, basketball or another physical activity.

Groce explained that Eric's solution goes beyond the physical.

"Eric is the size he is because of emotional things that have happened to him," Groce said. "We need to talk about what he is eating every day, what is a calorie, how to make good food choices.

"Everything goes together for all of the things he needs right now."

And Eric isn't the only one benefiting. Kevin's visible "Eric project" has raised awareness throughout the campus. Students are reading nutrition labels, keeping food diaries and tracking their exercise.

"Look at all of these kids," Groce said, waving toward students in Eric's class as they gathered at a table eating lunch. Some trays held salads, others fruits and vegetables. Most drank water or skim milk instead of soda.

"The choices they are making even in the lunchroom are way healthier than they would have made last semester."

In a few weeks, Groce said, she plans to enlist the aid of a nutritionist to help the students create individualized diets and achievable goals.

Kim Walton, chief clinical officer of behavioral health services for Community Health Network, said she was excited to learn more about Franklin's unique, student-centered approach to a serious national obesity crisis.

"This is focused on one young man and his unique needs," Walton said, "but my guess is he's probably not the only one in his class who will benefit from learning about health and reading nutrition labels."

Eric Ekis, a freshman at Franklin High School, started high school weighing in  around 500 pounds. Thanks to the help of teachers Don Wettrick and Lesleigh Groce, he has started to exercise more and has started better eating habits.

The change

This is the beginning of Eric's weight-loss journey, he and his teachers say. Change along the way is inevitable.

Wettrick, the teacher who intervened, is moving on to become innovations director at Noblesville High School. Friday was his last day at Franklin.

The group of students who are now walking with Eric weigh in twice a month and measure their bodies in class. Eric has lost less than 10 pounds, but Groce said Eric's legs and stomach have thinned noticeably. He is building endurance and stamina.

"We'll get there," Groce said. "I just want him to keep moving."

Many who have struggled to lose weight understand the emotional pains that come every time they step on the scale. Eric's weight has been up and down since the fall.

He's struggling, but he said he is not giving up and can see the changes in his body.

Peers have noticed the change, too.

"He always looked grumpy," said classmate Brianna Underwood, 16. "After they started walking he has a big smile on his face."

Now, if any student dares to tease or bully Eric, a host of friends are at his side ready to protect him.

"He's had such a big impact on a lot of people in this school," said freshman Taylor O'Connor, 15. "He's encouraging them to lose weight and exercise every day."

Eric understands he'll have to walk a lot of miles before he slims down to a weight he can live with. He's realistic about how he'll look when he's a senior.

"I think I'll be a lot skinnier than what I am now, but it's not all gonna be gone," he said. "It's gonna take more than four years to drop all this."

Eric hopes his story might inspire others.

"I hope that really it just helps other kids like me," Eric said. "I hope some teacher reads and really steps up and makes a change for a child like Mr. Wettrick and Mrs. Groce are helping me."

Eric — no longer invisible — said he's comfortable now and he's ready to be an inspiration.

"I feel a whole lot better about myself. I'm not the kid that hides anymore," he said. "The old me would have been scared (to be interviewed by The Star). After all that's happened, I've just changed drastically.

"I think I've changed for the better."

Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.

Big problem for Indiana

• About 31 percent of Hoosiers age 2 to 4, and 30 percent age 10 to 17 are overweight, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

• Being overweight has staggering health consequences and elevates a person's risk for chronic ailments including diabetes and high blood pressure.

• Hoosiers pay $3.5 billion a year in obesity-related medical costs, according to the state health department. About 37 percent of those costs are paid by Medicaid or Medicare.

• Obesity-related care is growing, according to the Indiana Health Department, and if it continues at the current pace, health costs for obese Hoosiers will more than double every decade by 2030.

Source: Indiana State Department of Health 2013 Minority Health: Childhood Overweight and Obesity report

Steps to prevent or manage obesity

1. Maintain a proper diet.

— Eat more fruits and vegetables, less high-sugar, high-fat and high-sodium foods.

— Drink water, avoid soda and other sugary drinks.

2. Stay active.

— Children should have 60 minutes or more of moderate to intense exercise every day.

— Limit screen time (TV, computer, video games) to fewer than two hours a day.

3. Support breastfeeding.

—New mothers should breastfeed until the child is at least 1 year old.

Source: Indiana State Department of Health 2013 Minority Health: Childhood Overweight and Obesity report.

Help yourself

Calculate your body mass index at www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi.

Visit the InShape Indiana website (www.inshapeindiana.org) for help in eating better, exercising more and stopping smoking. Programs include tips to start a walking program and a challenge to lose 10 pounds in 10 days.