Erika's recovery inspires family

In a small, white house on a Johnstown hill, something "amazing" is happening: Sara Orleanski, 16, is walking in white sneakers that are tied with hot-pink shoelaces.

Leaning heavily on a quad-cane, she is supported by a physical therapist and a leg brace that keeps her knee from buckling. Kathy Orleanski holds her daughter's hand tightly as the trio make their way, walking faster and cheering as they approach the front door.

"It's amazing," says Mrs. Orleanski. "She's already exceeding the hopes and expectations we had last year for her, so many times over. We just have to keep hoping and reaching for the stars."

Recovery

In 2004, Sara was involved in a severe car accident. The driver was killed and a friend injured; Sara was left in a coma, with severe injuries to her body and brain, and the prognosis that she would not last the night.

But she survived and spent months at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady before coming home last February.

A year later, intensive physical, cognitive and speech therapies have helped Sara, who can now better express herself, has a larger range of motion and even has returned to school on a limited basis.

New friend

After an article on Sara appeared in The Evangelist last year (search for her name at www.evangelist.org), the Orleanskis were contacted by the Kirtoglous, a Speigletown family whose daughter, Erika, knew what Sara was going through. Erika lived through a brain injury of her own.

Erika's mother, Anne Kirtoglou, "gave us a call," Mrs. Orleanski recalled. "She wanted us to know that we weren't alone. It was wonderful -- knowing where Erika came from -- to meet her and see how strong she is. She is an inspiration."

"My mom read the article first and left it on the table," Ms. Kirtoglou explained. "I read how [Sara] liked to dance, and I wanted to do something."

'Don't give up'

When the Kirtoglous, parishioners of St. Bonaventure's Church in Speigletown, went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes last year, they took prayer intentions from the Orleanskis. They returned with holy water from the shrine and a French beret for Sara. Ms. Kirtoglou also sent Sara a CD she had listened to her during her own recovery: "Don't Give Up."

The Kirtoglous also came to Johnstown for a visit.

"I have a lot of experience with traumatic brain injury, but I'm not a typical case," said Ms. Kirtoglou. "I know enough that you can't offer people false hope, that you can't say things that are impossible. But I feel like Sara's going to be okay."

Trauma of '93

In August 1993, Ms. Kirtoglou -- then 17 and a student at Catholic Central High School in Troy -- was driving down a snaking, two-lane road. She swerved to avoid cars parked directly in front of her and hit one in the oncoming lane. She suffered traumatic brain injury when she was thrown out the window and hit a tree.

Like the Orleanskis, Anne and her husband, Spiros, served as Erika's caretakers, support system and sources of prayer when she returned from rehabilitation months later.

Ms. Kirtoglou, now 30, documented her accident and ongoing recovery process in her memoir, "I'm Going To Dance," which is being published this month. A version of the memoir served as her thesis for a master's degree in English from The College of St. Rose in Albany.

Out of the haze

Ms. Kirtoglou's first memories after the accident are hazy. She remembers "seeing life through a clouded lens. When people moved, they seemed pulled. I saw people I thought I knew, that resembled people I knew," but she could not pin them down. It would be months before she could walk or speak.

Sifting through pictures of an unsmiling teenage girl with faraway eyes lying in a hospital bed, she now says, "That's not me -- not anymore."

At home, she engaged in what she called "feats of independence:" She would pull herself up and document how many steps she could take from her family's bedroom to the bathroom before she had to grab a wall.

Years of effort

For the next ten years, Ms. Kirtoglou's focus was on regaining what was lost. She began to walk, re-learned how to drive, went to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and earned her master's degree at Saint Rose.

Those achievements did not come easy, she said. She struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts at one point, and hanging over her head was the thought that things were never going to be the same as "before."

"God was definitely carrying me in those days, like the 'Footprints' prayer," she explained. "There is always hope, and you just have to look for it."

Remnants of injury

Today, Ms. Kirtoglou walks a little stiffly and unevenly, while her speech displays only hints of darker days. She still struggles with double vision.

"I say I lose my balance when the wind blows," she noted. "I say it in jest, but it's real."

Before the accident, she'd been on the Catholic Central High dance team. She told a newspaper reporter in 2003 that she'd love to learn to dance again, and an instructor from a local studio, touched by her story, offered to teach her ballroom dancing.

They will waltz at a March 25 fundraiser for the Brain Injury Association of New York State, a dinner-dance conceived by Ms. Kirtoglou. She calls it the "Surviving Dancers' Fundraising Flurry."

Faith amid pain

Ms. Kirtoglou said, "Faith is a huge element in my story, but my book isn't just for Catholics. I know I'm not perfect. I don't know everything.

"With this book, I have accepted myself as a handicapped person, and I almost embrace it. There are a lot of things I can do, but a lot that I can't. The title 'disabled' isn't a negative term; it's an adjective. I know that God has a plan for me. I have something to do; and, as long as He gives me the push, I'll keep on doing it."

That view is shared by the Orleanski family, who remain devoted to seeing Sara back on her feet despite the discouragement that can come at times:

* Sara's language skills have also been steadily returning over the year; she can now write her name and address, among other things, and regularly recognizes items on picture flash cards she could not identify just a few months ago;

* she can communicate silently by mouthing certain words;

* she can also type her name on a special keyboard attached to the family computer; and

* she "gets" subtle humor, does her best to crack jokes and gives her mom "the look" more than once a day.

Said Mrs. Orleanski, "There's still healing going on. We hope that her voice will get stronger, so she'll be able to communicate."

Back to school

In September, Sara went back to school for one class per semester. A neighbor tutors her to supplement what she learns in class.

Sara attends Mass at Holy Trinity parish in Johnstown, where she waves to people she knows, including a group of elderly ladies who have "adopted" her.

Sara still has a long way to go. This week, she had further reconstructive surgery on her skull.

She is also going for an evaluation to discover how technology can help her better express herself -- especially on the computer, "so she can email her friends," her mother explained. "The computer was always such a big part of her life, and it will be very motivating to get back on."

Back to dance

Ms. Kirtoglou and Sara have one more connection: Sara has returned to the dance classes she took before the accident -- but in a wheelchair. She moves her head, hands and feet to the music as best she can. Her teacher is choreographing a special routine for her to perform onstage at the spring recital.

"It's mostly rhythm right now," explained Mrs. Orleanski. "She moves her head back and forth, and that's how she participates. All these things are a dream come true. A year ago, we hoped it would be possible. Sara is showing us all that she can do it.

"There is a very strong connection between the two girls. Sometimes, I find myself looking back to how she was before the accident, but we have to embrace the person she is now and who she is becoming.

"Through all this, she's still Sara, and God is still guiding us along."

(For information about the dinner-dance, call 459-7911 or go to www.bianys.org.)

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