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Las Vegas Proclaims ‘Tyler Day’; Father Urges Better Local Pediatric Specialty Care After Son’s Death
Summary
The City Council proclaimed May 2025 as Tyler Day. Tyler’s father urged the council to expand local pediatric specialty care, saying families currently must travel out of state and that his son died en route to treatment.
The Las Vegas City Council on May 7 proclaimed May 2025 as “Tyler Day” to honor a child who received pioneering pediatric cancer care and to highlight gaps in local specialty services.
The proclamation, presented during the council’s ceremonial agenda by Mayor Pro Tem Bridal Knudson, praised Tyler for his courage and medical milestones and recognized his family’s advocacy. The family and supporters urged the city and regional leaders to improve access to comprehensive pediatric care so other Nevada children need not leave the state for treatment.
Councilman Bridal Knudson read the proclamation noting Tyler’s treatments at out‑of‑state centers and the family’s work on pediatric-health advocacy. The proclamation cited Tyler’s participation in advanced immunotherapy and the family’s efforts to improve pediatric care access in Nevada.
Eric Baloo, Tyler’s father, addressed the council after the proclamation. Baloo described the family’s experience traveling for care and said delays on highways and a lack of specialty services put children at risk. “We are losing Nevada children on the interstate because we don't currently have enough specialty care here in Las Vegas,” Baloo said during his remarks. He told the council his son died while en route to a dose of treatment and that an ambulance took 40 minutes to arrive: “We ended up waiting 40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.”
Baloo asked that Tyler’s legacy be an increase in local options so children could, for example, “do radiation in the morning and be home in the afternoon to pick on his little sisters.” He thanked the council and community groups that supported the family.
Council members and community partners joined the family for a photo and cake; the council will keep a commemorative display at City Hall. The proclamation does not by itself create new services or funding; council members did not vote on a specific policy or spending measure at the May 7 meeting. Baloo and other speakers urged follow‑up by health system leaders and regional partners to identify concrete steps to expand pediatric specialty capacity in Southern Nevada.
