Babies get first top-level visit
Gov. Charlie Crist swings through All Children's Hospital for a meet-and-greet with the state's first sextuplets.
By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published September 15, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG - Karoline and Ben Byler thought the attention that had been showered on their new nine-member family had died down after pictures of the sextuplets were released Thursday.
"Reporters kept saying, 'Please call me back when the babies come home,' " Karoline said.
But there was one more well-wisher who wanted to visit.
And when his name is Charlie Crist, the word "no" never enters your mind.
Even when you have on no makeup and pink flip-flops.
So Karoline, who had planned a shopping trip with her mother and a later visit to the hospital, went straight to All Children's Hospital hospital to meet her husband, Ben, for the hastily arranged meet-and-greet session Friday.
After all, she voted for Crist and liked him, she said.
Hospital security was at the ready when Crist and his entourage showed up at the main entrance about 2:25 p.m. Wearing his blue tie with the state of Florida and palm trees, he breezed in and shook hands with All Children's president Gary Carnes. He then stopped in the gift shop and bought a congratulatory card from volunteer Connie Bottger.
"He paid cash and left us two pennies change," she said.
The governor then toured the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, where the sextuplets have been cared for since they were born Sept. 1 at nearby Bayfront Medical Center.
He congratulated Dr. Karen Raimer, who delivered Florida's first sextuplets, and chief of neonatology Dr. Roberto Sosa. He hugged the Bylers and thanked Ben, 30, for his 10 years of service in the Navy.
Crist also met the Bylers' 4-year-old daughter, Zoe.
"She was shy," her mother said. "She gets nervous with all the cameras."
He then got a look at Brady Christopher, Eli Benjamin, Ryan Patrick, Jackson Robert and MacKenzie Margaret. When he got to Charlie Craig, who was resting on grandmother Patty Kierwa's chest, he patted the baby on the head.
"He was really excited about meeting Charlie," Karoline said.
When the 10-minute visit ended, he hugged the Bylers again, giving 29-year-old Karoline a peck on the cheek.
After the visit, Crist pronounced the babies "adorable" before taking off in a silver sport utility vehicle.
Karoline and Ben said they will treasure the visit. They plan to laminate the card, signed "So happy for you, Charlie Crist."
"That made it more special for us," Karoline said. "We will have the card forever."
Crist said he was "all smiles for Florida" over the news of the sextuplets' birth. When asked if the Bylers should get any special property tax relief, he replied tongue-in-cheek: "They should, shouldn't they? They've earned it."
Lisa Buie can be reached at buie@sptimes.com or 813 909-4604.