full name: Caleb “Cal” Matthias Sylvester
face claim: Dylan O’Brien
birthday: January 14, 1998
occupation: Student & Bartender at Scandals
area of study: Performing and Media Arts
Tw: Heart Condition, Fainting, Clinical Depression & Anxiety
SYNCOPE: Growing up, you would have never thought Caleb was more than Ohio’s average little boy; he was always so energetic, so friendly and polite, he loved to play soccer with his friends, in middle school he was the captain of the track team, and he was always jumping around without a care in the world. He was just like any other little boy, both of his parents were quite wealthy; his mother coached the Mckinley High Cheerios, and they usually returned from competitions with first place, and as for his father, he worked at the biggest hospital in Princeton, New Jersey, he was the most qualified doctor in the building and it was safe to say that with his titles of being the Head of Diagnostic Medicine, Residency in Pathology, Nephrology, Infectious Disease Specialist and being an Intensivist, he had more than your regular GP qualifications. Sure, both of his parents weren’t the friendliest people in the world, but they knew how to raise and love a child, so who could complain? But things with Caleb slowly started to deteriorate when he was in Seventh Grade, his mood went from being this happy and energetic little boy to a little boy who threw temper tantrums, suddenly wouldn’t eat his meals, and was starting to become easily agitated and just wanted to sleep. Like any parent would, they first just put it down to him being near the age of puberty, they thought it would pass by the summer that year, little did they know, though, while their wishes came true, as soon as Caleb went into Eight Grade, everything went downhill. His mother was seven months pregnant at the time, she had only recently broken the news to her son that his little sister would be born with Down Syndrome, and that was fine, the problems started when his grandmother came to visit, Caleb was simply just in one of those moods, but everyone paid no attention to him, except, of course, his medical expert of a father, Caleb was turning a pale bluish colour, he looked exhausted in a matter of minutes after having just gone up and back down the stairs. If his father hadn’t needed the aid of his cane to walk, he would’ve rushed to his son, but sadly, by the time he had managed to get to him as quickly as he could and had drawn attention, Caleb was blacked out on the ground, involuntarily gasping for air as his pulse raced and his heart fluttered in an unusual way. He was rushed to the hospital, both his parents by his side when he woke up from having a variety of tests done, all of them coming back to the same shocking conclusion; Caleb had been diagnosed with a complex form of a Transposition of The Great Arteries in his heart, there were only a handful of people that had the same complexity of the condition like Caleb did, but unfortunately, Caleb would also suffer from a more severe symptom of the condition; Syncope, also known as fainting that was caused by the complication of his arteries flowing the blood through his body in the wrong direction; the blood that was supposed to go to his heart, went to his brain, and vice versa, meaning that there was a lack of oxygen going to his brain, which, is the most common cause of people collapsing. He would have to create a completely new routine for himself, and the life he had once known, would probably never exist again.
MOVING: As anyone could imagine, the diagnosis of his heart condition was a stressful time for everyone in his family, it meant changing everything they once knew to ensure it would be alright for him. But because of the stress and pressure it put on Caleb’s parents, they came to the difficult decision that maybe it would be best if he went to live in New Jersey with his father; the man was more qualified than any normal GP, he specialised in some of the most complex cases, and with his mother still being pregnant at the time, the last thing she needed was more stress. It was a difficult decision that had to be made, and Caleb could understand that, but it didn’t make the transition from Ohio with his mother to New Jersey with his father any easier. Caleb had always believed that his father was busy and stressed all the time from work, it made him think that his father would have practically no time to be with him, but he was wrong. His father spent so much time making sure that he was safe and happy; they spent all of their free time together and amazingly, Caleb never once felt like he needed to try to be perfect around his father, he was comfortable and could just himself, and while at first, the move was hard, Caleb honestly never wanted to look back. Moving to New Jersey had been the best thing for both himself and both his parents.
CHANGES: The first year of Caleb’s diagnosis of his heart condition was definitely one of the most difficult years of his life; he had to go through a countless amount of hours in the hospital getting a variety of different tests and procedures done; being poked and prodded by different types of doctors and medical students. It was something Caleb hated the most about his condition, he just wanted to back to the time where he could be somewhat normal again, back to the life he had where people didn’t stare at him for having this new bluish tinge to his lips, fingertips and toes, he wanted to go back to the life where he could still be on the track team, where he could still run around with his friends playing sports. The life of being pale, being picked at like a little test subject and seeming sickly all the time wasn’t what he had ever imagined in his life, but this was the reality, this was his new life, and whether he liked it or not, there was no easy way out. His condition was too complex for surgery to be done, so the only thing that could really be done was his cardiac specialist putting him on medication to relieve some of the pressure from his lungs so his breathing would be somewhat easier again. But this was a life sentence that he didn’t know what he had done to deserve it; he could never get piercings, he could never get tattoos, he would never be like every other teen that went out and got wasted, he would always be on medication and would have to be careful with absolutely everything. He would have none of those experiences and he hated it, but at the same time, he was still only a kid and he didn’t understand completely, so all he could hope was that one day he would understand and accept himself even just a little bit better than he did now
FIRST INSTRUMENT: After everything Caleb had been through the year of his fifteenth birthday, his parents knew that they needed to somehow do something to try and cheer their son up; at first, his parents thought that the arrival of his little sister Robin would somehow lift his spirits, and it did, but only for a very short amount of time. Deep down, they knew it was only a matter of time until their precious little boy would be diagnosed with Depression and he was, by Christmas that year, he had been diagnosed with Clinical Depression and Anxiety, he didn’t even want to celebrate Christmas that year, he just wanted to stay in his room curled up in his bed ignoring the world. His father even had to watch him taking his medication to ensure he didn’t attempt to overdose, things were bad and nobody wanted it to get any worse, so, his parents decided to get deep into their savings to give their son one of the best Christmases of his life. On Christmas Morning, Caleb was greeted with more than a handful of presents, but out of everything he had received that year, the one thing that stuck out to him the most was his black Yamaha P Series P35B 88-Key Digital Piano, it was the one thing he had always stopped to look at when he went to the local Music Store with his father, but he was always too scared to mention how much he would like one. In his mind, why would he ever mention it? He didn’t play the piano, he had never shown a key interest in music, so Caleb always believed that if he brought it up, he would be pestered to prove how dedicated he would be and that would just put him off completely. Now it was here, and God, he was so happy, as soon as Christmas Breakfast was finished, he pleaded with his parents to help him set it up in his bedroom. All he wanted to do was to play it, and he did, not once did he ever go to a piano lesson. He thought himself how to play and by the time he was seventeen, he could play like he was a professional. It was the one skill he knew made his parents proud, but what he never shared with them was once he had mastered the piano, he had also taken up the interest of writing his own songs. Of course, he still suffered from his depression and Anxiety, but with the piano there to occupy him, his anti-depressants doses were gradually lessened. It was safe to say that the piano he had received for Christmas that year was what saved his life. Somehow, it got him out of that dark place better than any medication could have done.
BACK TO OHIO: As soon as Caleb had graduated from High School, his mother and little sister had asked him if he would come back to Ohio, and deep down, he didn’t want to go. He loved living with his father and while yes, he missed his little sister and mother, he had built a life for himself in New Jersey, he had made friends and he didn’t want to leave, and everyone could tell, so his father decided to make some sort of compromise; his father made the decision to transfer over to Lima General Hospital to work, they needed a doctor as qualified as his father was, so he was welcomed with opened arms, plus, with the amount of money he made from his job, he was also able to buy a big house in Westerville for the two of them to live. Caleb felt horrible that his father had to pack up and leave, but the older man had assured him that he was ready for a change, so this was the path they were now going to go down. By the new school year after the summer in 2016, Caleb and his father were happily settled in Ohio once again, but this time, the four of them weren’t just celebrating a house warming; Caleb had also been accepted into a college just outside of the city to pursue his dream of studying Performing Arts. Everything was finally looking up in the world and Caleb couldn’t have been happier.
FALLING IN LOVE: Caleb is such a quirky and shy character, so digging into this type of plot would be extremely fun, he has absolutely no idea what it feels like to be in love, deep down, he thinks it’s just a fairy tale. I really think this would be incredible to explore with him! It would be amazing to see him go from not believing in love to transitioning to the belief that love is possible once it’s with the right person.
OPENING UP: He definitely isn’t ashamed about his heart condition, but at the same time, he’s never been close enough with a friend to actually be able to really open up and talk about his own concerns. Of course, he could go to his father considering he’s a doctor, but at the same time, Caleb just wants someone his own age to be able to talk to, they probably wouldn’t understand it, but I could definitely see it being something of a challenge for Caleb to do, he’s such a guarded person, so it would be lovely to have a plot with him connecting with someone enough that he could just vent and not worry about it being said back to people.
HOSPITAL PROCEDURES: Caleb has never had to have surgery on his heart before, but with him being older, he would have to once again go through the process of multiple procedures to check on his condition. I think it would be interesting to see him in that type of environment with no guard up, plus, I think it would be pretty hilarious seeing him in the aftermath of an anaesthetic. Hospital appointments are a regular part of Caleb’ life, but no one other than his family have seen him in those situations. I think it would be great to get to plot it all out, from the leading up to it, to the recovering, I think it would add that extra human quality to Caleb.
CHILDHOOD FRIEND: Although Caleb has moved around, I would like to imagine that through it all he’s had that person there to stand by his side through everything he’s been through; someone who will keep it totally real with him. This is the one person that can argue with Caleb and he wouldn’t worry about losing them forever. They’re also the only person that has ever heard the songs that Caleb has written.
MENTOR: This is someone that Caleb really looks up to when it comes to his music, he personally believes that they know everything there is to know about the music industry; Caleb definitely looks up to this person on their journey with music and he hopes one they he can be even a little bit as successful as they are.
FIRST LOVE: Caleb has never been in love before, so I would love for Caleb to have that romantic connection with someone. This connection would probably be the person to see Caleb at his highest and lowest points, someone that can make him feel loved even when he’s feeling worthless. They know how to make Caleb feel better, even if it’s a simple hug or a peck on the cheek, Caleb is usually happiest with this person.
At the moment, all Caleb really wants is to pass his exams and continue to go further with his Performing and Media Arts, but he also wants to make friends and really make Ohio feel like home in the same way New Jersey did. He knows it will take a while for that feeling to settle, but he would much prefer it if it came sooner rather than later.