Published Sunday, February 6,
2005, in the San Jose Mercury News
on
a recent Saturday, Fiorella Arambulo had her very own cheering squad
as she sped around the basketball court during the weekly practice
of the Wheels on Fire junior team at the Camden Community Center
in San Jose.
"Go, Fio! Go, Fio! Go, Fio!'' chanted
her 9-year-old sister Angelina and 11-year-old cousin Valerie Cuculiza
enthusiastically and with great attitude from the sideline.
 |
Fiorella
Arambulo test drives her new Per4Max sports wheelchair.
(Susanna
Frohman / Mercury News)
|
Fio just kept on grinning. It was a
grin that hadn't left her face since she pulled off the sheet covering
her speedy new sports wheelchair, enameled a luscious shade of her
favorite color, purple. It replaces the clunky manual wheelchair
that kept this talented young athlete from reaching her potential
on the court and in other sports.
Fio, 12, was born with cerebral palsy
and uses a power wheelchair to zip around Santa Teresa Elementary
in San Jose, where she is a sixth grader. But a new chair just for
sports was outside the reach of her close-knit but low-income family.
Wish Book readers responded warmly to
Fio's wish, which also included tuition to this summer's Northern
California Junior Sports Camp. Donations will pay Fio's fees as
well as provide scholarships for other young people with physical
challenges.
Read
the Wish Book story about Fio
Arambulo. |
