After Flight 3407 widow suffers a stroke, family, friends try to ease her burdens
Hope in the wake of catastrophe
It seemed things couldn’t get any more heartbreaking.
That’s what the family and loved ones of Brian and Karen Kuklewicz thought after Brian, a Cheektowaga engineer and father of twin boys, was killed Feb. 12 in the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407.
But the heartbreak got worse.
Two months after the crash, on Easter Sunday, catastrophe struck again, when Kuklewicz’s widow suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed on her right side, barely able to speak and constantly dizzy.
Now, Karen Kuklewicz is making a frustrating and uncertain recovery while still grappling with the loss of her husband. Her parents are caring for her, and one of her brothers has taken in her 9-year-old twin boys.
In the meantime, the medical bills are mounting, as are living expenses for the boys.
Family members can only pray that no more calamities strike this Cheektowaga family. To help out, two longtime friends of the Kuklewiczes — Frank Menza and Eric Klaffka — are organizing a benefit to be held this August, and they’re asking for the public’s help in raising money and donations of goods to be auctioned off.
“Whatever help we can get, whatever comes out of it, we’ll take,” said Karen’s brother, Jeff Michalski, who took in his nephews, even though he and his wife have a 10-year-old son and 9-year-old twin girls of their own.
Brian Kuklewicz and Karen Michalski met when they were teenagers, recalled friends and family at a recent gathering at the West Seneca home of Christine Kuklewicz, Brian’s mother.
Brian Kuklewicz (pronounced Coo- KLEV-ich) was in his freshman year at Seneca Vocational High School when he began what would become a close and lasting friendship with Menza, Klaffka and Michalski. Michalski happened to have a younger sister: Karen.
Fourteen years ago, the couple were married at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Cheektowaga. Menza was the best man and both Michalski and Klaffka stood up at the wedding.
Five years later, the Kuklewiczes became the proud parents of fraternal twins Nicholas and Jacob.
“Their lives revolved around their boys,” said Christine Kuklewicz.
Two nights a week, Brian Kuklewicz would come home from his job at Burns Cascade in Depew and watch the boys while Karen headed off to Buffalo State College, where she was working toward her master’s degree in education. She also worked as a long-term substitute teacher for the Cheektowaga Central School District.
The Kuklewiczes maintained a close relationship with their extended family, and they looked forward to family gatherings, particularly Christmas, when Christine Kuklewicz and her daughter, Brenda, would make pierogis and Karen would whip up her famous scalloped potatoes.
The families went on frequent camping trips together, and once a year the Kuklewiczes went on a big family vacation. This year, they had been planning a trip in May to Disney World with Brenda and her children.
‘Keep the boys up’
Before boarding Flight 3407 from Newark to Buffalo on the night of Feb. 12, Brian Kuklewicz called his wife.
He had just wrapped up a training seminar and was on his way home. She told the family he had sounded excited. He had never been to New York before but said he loved it so much he couldn’t wait to take Karen and the boys there someday.
“Keep the boys up for me,” Brian told Karen, “because I miss them.”
Karen did as her husband asked, but when the flight was delayed and it grew later and later, she tucked the boys into bed and went back downstairs. She dozed off, and when she woke up at about 10:30, realized her husband had not returned. She called the airport and was told the plane had landed. But there had been no word from Brian. Karen turned on the TV and saw reports of a plane that had crashed in Clarence Center. She called the airport again. This time, they said there had been a problem with the aircraft, but didn’t elaborate.
She kept watching the television coverage and saw the flight number on the screen. Then she knew.
Holding it together
Karen Kuklewicz did everything to help her young sons cope with the devastating loss of their father.
Their birthday came the week after the crash, and while she couldn’t stand the idea of celebrating, she knew her boys needed some sort of party. When Continental Airlines offered to throw them a party, she reluctantly agreed. What was supposed to be a small gathering turned into a 200-person affair with a full buffet and an appearance by the Sabres mascot. Karen also bought the boys two kittens.
Despite her crushing grief, Karen kept up the house. She cooked and cleaned and made sure the boys were doing their school work. But after the kids went to bed, Karen would call a friend or family member of Brian’s.
“And she would break down for five minutes,” Michalski said.
“She’d say: ‘I want to talk to you because I want to relive some of those good memories,’ ” Menza said.
She would also call Brian’s phone at work and listen to his message, just to be able to hear his voice.
About a month after the crash, Karen returned to her substitute teaching job and also to grad school. She was eager to complete her degree because she had a full-time job lined up at Cheektowaga Central in the fall.
Things were starting to seem at least a little bit normal again.
The stroke
On the night before Easter, Karen came down with what she assumed was a terrible migraine. She’d had migraines for years. That night, she couldn’t sleep. On Easter Sunday, her boys went off to play with some cousins. She stayed home in bed.
At noon, Michalski called her. He was in Florida with his wife and three kids. They were about to get on a cruise ship—a trip that had been postponed because of the crash but that Karen had insisted they take.
Doctors believe that about 45 minutes later Karen suffered a severe stroke. But because of her headache, no one thought about the possibility of a stroke. Hours later, she was taken to Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital.
Doctors rushed Karen into the operating room for a surgery they said she had about a 15 percent chance of surviving. She later communicated to her family that, even though she seemed unconscious, she vividly recalled receiving her last rites and listening to her family discuss whether to put her on life support. Although she survived, the stroke caused serious damage. Karen’s right side is paralyzed. She can’t really speak.
“She has a vocabulary of maybe 10 words,” her brother said. “But if you were to listen to her, you wouldn’t be able to understand.”
Her family has realized that Karen understands everything going on around her. They were happy to discover that she did not lose her mental faculties at all.
Karen remained in the hospital for a month and a half.
In the meantime, Michalski brought Nicholas and Jacob—and the kittens—to live with him and his family. They put bunk beds in Michalski’s son’s room. They’ve found a way to safely squeeze all the kids into their minivan.
A few weeks ago, Karen was released from the hospital and went to live with her parents, whose yard abuts Jeff Michalski’s. But she has had to undergo two more surgeries since because of problems with a shifting stent. She is back home again, but the events of the past four months leave left her depressed.
“She’s afraid the boys won’t feel comfortable with her ever again,” Michalski said. “She’s afraid they won’t even know each other.”
The family assures her every day that they won’t let that happen.
Karen still calls the shots when it comes to raising her boys, they said.
“It’s important to Karen that she is still in charge,” her brother said.
When it came to homework, for instance, the twins had become a little less diligent when the weather got nicer. When she found out, she let the boys know they were in trouble.
“She’ll clench the teeth and squint the eyes and point with the left hand,” Michalski said. “She’s in charge.”
Recovering
But as Karen slowly recovers, her medical bills for everything that her insurance won’t cover keep growing. And her brother is dealing with the cost of suddenly heading a family of seven instead of five. Other members of the family take turns keeping the boys for a couple of days at a time, but it’s still a financial challenge.
Brian Kuklewicz had a good life insurance policy. He also had set aside plenty of money and had established college funds for the boys. Had nothing happened to Karen, money would not have been an issue.
“No one could have predicted what happened,” Klaffka said.
Menza and Klaffka decided they needed to help. They are now organizing a fundraiser from 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday Aug. 16 at the Hearthstone Manor in Depew. Tickets are $25 for adults; children 10 and under are free. Organizers are also seeking items for auction and raffle. For more information, contact Eric Klaffka at 440-8573 or Frank Menza at 316-7617.
“They were like [our] brother and sister, not just friends,” Menza said.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Klaffka said. “It wasn’t a question of ‘Should we do this?’ It was ‘When?’ ”
The two have visited dozens and dozens of businesses requesting donations of items to auction and raffle off at the benefit. They’re starting to make some progress, but they need help.
They’re also looking for cash donations to help the family through this difficult time. Checks may be sent to M&T Bank, c/o Friends of Karen Kuklewicz, 2882 Delaware Ave., Kenmore, NY, 14217, or stop by any M&T branch.
“Honestly,” Klaffka said of the benefit, “it’s what you would hope someone would do for you.”
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