Full-scream ahead for teen at fundraiser

Monday, October 15, 2007 12:16 PM CDT

BLOOMINGTON — The past two months have been difficult for Marixanna “Xanna” Garcia, but the 14-year-old was all smiles Sunday as she greeted friends at a fundraiser in her honor at The Chateau.

Xanna suffered a stroke in August, caused by an arteriovenous malformation, a blood vessel abnormality in her brain. She had two surgeries to remove a blood clot near her brain stem and spent nearly two months at OSF Saint Francis Hospital in Peoria.

Family and friends helped plan Sunday’s benefit to assist Xanna’s family with her medical bills, some of which weren’t covered by insurance. Organizers estimated more than 300 people attended, and there was a $5 minimum suggested donation at the door.

The highlight for many there was seeing Xanna, who was discharged from the hospital Wednesday. She eagerly chatted with friends and seemed like a typical teenage girl, screaming when her best friend, Lauren DeVolder, arrived. She even joined her friends on the dance floor in her wheelchair.

Lauren’s mother, Therese, watched them smiling and laughing on the dance floor.

“They look just like they used to,” she said of the girls, both freshman at Normal Community High School.

Xanna’s attitude won the hearts of many staffers at OSF Saint Francis, some of whom attended Sunday. Recreational therapist Karen Chapman said Xanna did everything she asked.

“You could tell she thought some of it was stupid, but she would do it anyway,” she said.

Friends, strangers turn out

Family contacts helped make the event a success: Alex Parra, a friend of Xanna’s mother, Marianne, donated his DJ services for the event; Rosati’s Pizza, owned by the father of one of Xanna’s classmates, donated food; and Mobile Planet, Xanna’s aunt’s employer, helped book The Chateau.

And other friends pitched in, too. Xanna played last year on the Chiddix Junior High basketball team, which presented her with a check for $2,714 from a fundraiser they held Saturday.

But for Xanna’s father, Jimmy Garcia, who lived in California before his daughter’s illness, it was the support from strangers that was the most amazing.

Marilyn Turner of Normal simply read about Xanna’s story and wanted to attend. She and her son, Brad, wanted to support Xanna because Brad also had an arteriovenous malformation and surgery.

Another attendee, a student from Prairie Central, donated 28,000 soda can tabs, which she had been saving since second grade.

Jimmy Garcia was also overwhelmed when his daughter’s surgeon, Dr. Ann Stroink, came to see her.

Stroink, who the family credits with saving Xanna’s life, took her into the hall, where Xanna demonstrated her walking for her doctor.

Afterward, Stroink smiled as she watched Xanna, who will continue with outpatient therapy, eagerly return to the dance floor.

“That’s what makes the practice of neurosurgery worth it,” Stroink said.

How to help

-- Donations are still being collected. Make checks payable to Marixanna Garcia Benefit Fund, National City Bank c/o Patrick Finnegan, 1501 E. College Ave., Normal, IL 61761.

-- Soda tabs are still being collected through Normal Community High School, 3900 E. Raab Road, Normal; call (309) 728-5000.