MAKING HER DREAM COME TRUE
COMMUNITY UNITES TO SEND HANDICAPPED SPRINGFIELD SENIOR TO HER PROM:
As the Springfield High School Senior Prom commenced at the Adventure Aquarium Friday night, among the students attending were a couple whose path was paved by a community of wellwishers.
Grace Collins is a Springfield senior who has attended schools in the district since kindergarten. When she was a toddler, the 18-year-old was diagnosed with Rett’s syndrome, a rare neurological genetic disorder that impacts mostly girls, about 1 in 13,000, and requires her to communicate through a talker, restricts use of her hands and requires her to be in a wheelchair most of the time.
“She’s not capable of doing anything independently,” Grace’s mom, Colleen, said. She explained the teen needs to be fed, has to wear braces on her legs and requires 20-hours of nursing care. She also has severe seizures and requires emergency administrations of Valium weekly. “Their life expectancy may be shortened due to complications.”
At first, her senior prom seemed off the radar.
“I wasn’t even going to send her,” the single mom of three said, “but her teacher emailed me, ‘It’s going to be at the aquarium in Camden.’”
Grace’s aunt, Jeanmarie Kearney, recalled when her sister put a posting on Facebook a few months ago asking if anyone could help find a limousine.
It read, “Does anyone know of any limo service cheaper than $700?”
They needed a limousine because of Grace’s wheelchair and feeding tube and because she needs to have a nurse with her due to her seizure activity. Her mom is a nurse and went with her in dual capacity.
Kearney answered, “Don’t you worry about it. I’ve got it. Princess Grace will have her carriage.”
She reached out to her friends from Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Morton, where she graduated in 1967.
“We all are still very close friends,” Kearney said. “People started responding from all over the country – California, Texas, Morton ... It only took 11 people and we had the money collected.”
A local funeral home that asked for anonymity heard of the situation and donated the limousine for free, although the driver needed to be paid. The money was used for that.
When Grace learned she was going to the prom, the next question was, “Who would be her date?”
Kearney said Grace has had a friend at school whom she’s liked for some time.
“He opens doors for her at school,” the aunt said. “He pushes her wheelchair. He’s always been really, really helpful to her. She’s always been sweet on him.”
Grace’s mom said the boy, Patrick McDevitt, is a freshman. He has Cerebral Palsy and has been hinting about the prom for some time.
“He’s been saying to Grace, ‘Are we going to the aquarium together?’” she said. Last week he got his answer. After all the details were finalized, Grace’s mom asked her, “You think Patrick would go?”
The class captured Grace asking him on video – and he said yes.
Grace’s family were profuse in their praise for the teen’s classmates.
“The Springfield School District has been wonderful,” Colleen said. “The student body’s been great. The student body and the teachers treat her as any student.” Grace’s aunt agreed. “She has been a part of the school since kindergarten,” she said. “Those boys and girls have integrated her and been kind to her.”
Kearney said every time Grace has been out of school to have a surgery, the students would make signs from “We Miss You, Grace” to “Welcome Home!”
“There never was a problem in school where she was ostracized for being different, something you don’t see today,” she said. “The boys and girls were unusually kind to her. It’s really a miracle, really a miracle.”
Every day is a miracle, as the aunt explained Rett syndrome is a degenerative disorder.
When she was born, she exhibited all the usual developments until she was about 18 months old.
“All of a sudden, (she began) to lose every development skill,” Kearney said. “They lose muscle tone. They become very distorted in their spine. They are never, never able to use their hands functionally. Grace cannot hold a cup or pencil. She can’t point with her fingers.”
Communicating is also different.
“She relies on someone asking her a question and then uses her nose to put her head down and answers by pushing her nose,” she said.
The seizures can be debilitating.
“Grace is at the point right now where she has gone through every seizure medication and they’re ineffective,” Kearney said. “It’s a last-chance effort in controlling the seizures.”
Her mother said she herself was looking forward to having a special moment, just like any other girl.
“Putting aside the disability, the doctors’ appointments ... just that normalcy, just to enjoy a girl moment with her, a normal mother/daughter moment,” she said.
There are times, her mom said, when people say, “Oh, I’m so sorry” when they meet her.
But, Collins said, this is just their life and this is their normalcy.
Yet, there are times, she realizes it’s different than others’.
“When you see other children hit milestones that haven’t had the challenges she has, that’s when my heart goes out to her,” the mom said.
And that’s what made Friday night even more special.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Collins said last week. “I’m happy that she can go, it can happen for her.”
So, on Friday night, the 18-yearold donned sparkly gladiator sandals and a light aqua dress with a rhinestone band as her nurse Amina up-do-ed her hair in a bun. Her date Patrick wore a bowtie to display his admiration for Hurricane Schwartz and the two were whisked away – by limo – to a
night of fun and memories.
Grace herself was excited and ready but also nervous about getting her hair, makeup and nails done, although she knew she was going to look fabulous.
There were many things she was highly anticipating – but one moment was going to be set aside as extra special.
“I am most excited about having the dance down at the aquarium,” she said. “I am also thrilled to go there in a limo. It will be fun to see all the animals and get pictures taken by the shark tunnel. The best part of the
night will be the buffet dinner.”
On a night full of dances, Grace’s first was reserved before she ever set foot on the floor.
“I can’t wait to dance with my friends,” she said, “but my mother will get the first dance.”
The teen wished all a fabulous moment.
“I hope we all have a great time at the prom!” Grace said.
After having seen her niece go through so many challenges, Kearney said she hoped the teen would have the time of her life.
“That girl has suffered and she never complains,” her aunt said. “Grace always has a smile. I’ve seen her in the hospital after the most horrendous surgeries and
she wakes up with a smile. She never complains. She’s just a pleasant, almost heavenly child to be around. She’s a blessing, she really is a blessing.”
Kearney also credits the resilience of Grace’s mom, her sister and talked about the importance of the moment for both mother and daughter.
“I want it to be magical for both of them because it’s the only thing that Grace and Colleen will be able to do together,” Kearney said. “Colleen will never be able to shop for wedding dresses or have a baby shower for her. I want Grace to be there with the other girls and feel beautiful and feel like a princess, like every other girl wants to at her prom.”