April 4, 2007

Sunshine Dream a long time coming

By Julie Achilles
jachille@uwo.ca

Instead, she marvelled at the palm trees and the teal colour of the Caribbean Sea. She was anxious to explore the beach and check out the massive waterslide and 14-hectare marine habitat at the nearby Atlantis Resort. Before her family had even settled into a hotel room, she dug into the luggage for her favourite attire: a T-shirt and shorts.

"I rummaged through my bag and found something and went to the washroom and put it on," she said laughing. "I dread being in winter clothes."

For the past few years, Danielle, 13, who has a severe hearing impairment, only dreamed about coming to this place. Finally, the experience was far beyond her pillow and Minnie Mouse bed sheets - over 2,000 kilometres from her home in London.

In a phone call from the Bahamas, where the family enjoyed 24 C warmth, her mother Deb Andrews gushed about Danielle's first impression of her dream destination.

Photo courtesy of Danielle Andrews

Danielle Andrews, in the Bahamas, frolics in the ocean wearing her T-shirt from Sunshine Dreams for Kids.

"(Danielle) never thought Bahamas would be so colourful and pretty," she said. "She loves the palm trees and the ocean."

The trip expenses were covered by Sunshine Dreams for Kids, a national, non-profit organization that grants wishes for children with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses. After a child makes a request, his or her parents fill out an application on the child's medical condition, explained Krista Minnice, who's known as the "Dream Fulfillment Coordinator" for the organization's London chapter. Volunteer doctors for the organization then assess the severity of the child's condition to determine if he or she will get a wish, she said.

Danielle's quest began nearly three years ago, in a neatly-printed letter in the summer of 2004:

"Dear Sirs! I am a 10 ½-year-old girl who loves travelling. I have a hearing loss, and wear hearing aids . . . The wish I choose will be the appropriate thing for a girl who is going into Grade 6. So here's my wish I mostly dreamed of: To go to the Bahamas."

After the application process was completed and the trip organized, Danielle was granted her wish.

"It's cool," she said, while standing in the family kitchen with her hands stuffed in the pockets of her brown, hooded sweatshirt.

Her Caribbean dream came from watching the 2001 film, Holiday in the Sun, starring twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in the Bahamas. Danielle is a twin, too, but unlike them, she and her other half haven't enjoyed the luxuries of Hollywood stars. In fact, for them it's more difficult to take part in everyday activities people take for granted.

However, if it weren't for Danielle's hearing impairment and the struggles life has thrown her way, Sunshine Dreams for Kids wouldn't have granted her wish to visit the Bahamas, Deb said.

Danielle and her twin brother Eric were born three months prematurely on Oct. 22, 1993. Seven months later, Danielle was diagnosed with her hearing loss. At nine months old, she had hearing aids. Eric's ears were fine, but he faced challenges sitting up, crawling and walking. At age one, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. As infants, both children were receiving physiotherapy for different reasons.

"They're very opposite in their personalities as well as their disabilities, so that was always a challenge," Deb said, laughing.

Deb, 44, and Wayne, 64, have devoted their energy and patience to ensuring their children develop to the best of their abilities, said family friend Tania Principi.

"They've encouraged both children not to be limited by their disabilities," she said. "They won't settle for what's easiest and commonplace."

While it's easier for Eric to sit in his wheelchair, they encourage him to use his walker. "It's very, very hard for him to walk, but that's why we have him do it. Because if he didn't use his legs at all, he would have absolutely no use," Deb said.

They've worked to improve Danielle's hearing. As a baby, she didn't tolerate her hearing aids and repeatedly ripped them out. "We have very few pictures of her as a baby with her aids on because I couldn't even get the camera to get a picture for fear that they would be whipped off somewhere," Deb remembered. With patience from her parents, Danielle started to accept her hearing aids at 15 months. They help, but exaggerate background noises like the fridge humming, a car rumbling or the wind whistling.

Photo by Julie Achilles

Danielle Andrews, with her family, received her dream at Winners Apparel Ltd.

"If there's any noise around, it pretty much overcomes the voices," Danielle said.

Danielle's hearing impairment also affected her speech, so her parents strived to improve her language skills. From age one, she received speech therapy at the Thames Valley Children's Centre, and a resource teacher from Robarts School for the Deaf visited their home. But when Eric started speaking full sentences at two, Deb realized Danielle was behind. She started auditory verbal therapy, a special speech therapy for the hearing impaired. After kindergarten, Danielle's speech skills were comparable to other children her age. She continued speech therapy until she was 10.

As the twins grew, Deb said they forced her to understand each other's needs.
When she had trouble grasping what Danielle was saying, Eric understood and helped his mom communicate. Danielle made Deb realize when Eric should have started to crawl, walk and feed himself. While he caught on much later than his sister, Eric tried to improve his motor skills by watching Danielle.

When it came to their schooling at the London Christian Elementary School, Deb wanted to keep them together.

"If they're in the same class, they're learning the same work at the same time, so I can help them with their homework. We can help each other."

"They've always been great advocates both in school and in the community to give (Danielle and Eric) the skills they need," said Principi. "They put the kids first to make sure they get the best out of this world, out of life."

Deb and Wayne were integral in starting an Ontario March of Dimes in the community, which is an organization devoted to rehabilitation and advocacy for physically disabled people.

The family was due for a trip to the Bahamas, said Principi.

"The family deserved it because of the sacrifices they've had to make," she said. "I think it's wonderful they've had this opportunity to not worry about the day-to-day."

"Danielle and Eric have worked really hard to keep up with everybody and lead normal lives," she added.

Krista Minnice said most people don't realize what the Sunshine families go through and how strong the children are.

"It's nice to be able to give something to them that's almost like a reward," she said.

In its current fiscal year, Sunshine Dreams for Kids has received 95 dream applications, approved 88 and fulfilled 73. A trip like the one Danielle requested can cost up to $7,500, she said. Deb and Wayne could never afford it.

"For us, as parents, it's just practically a matter of money," Deb said.

She works part time as a law clerk and Wayne, who manages his own Automatic Transmission Shop, works long hours because of the costs to keep the shop running.

The vacation was a week for the Andrews family to be together and enjoy each other. The trip was presented to Danielle on March 8 at a local Winners Apparel Ltd., one of Sunshine Dreams for Kids' national sponsors.

Among racks of jeans, collared shirts and purses, Amy Mezenberg of the London chapter of Sunshine presented the hotel package and airline tickets to Danielle.

"I was a little nerve-wracked, but I was excited," Danielle said shyly afterwards, bundled in her blue winter coat. Excited indeed. She packed her bathing suit, goggles, shorts and tops days before the trip.

"She's daddy's girl. Daddy's princess," Wayne said at Winners, adding proudly with a chuckle that Danielle's goal is to one day own a Chrysler dealership. He was anxious for his family getaway. "No business attachments. Nothing to drive you home or anything," he said. "Just the four of us."

Just the four of them flew out of Toronto to the Bahamas for one week on March 11.

Now the family has only to wait until Christmas, when Eric, who also requested a dream in 2004, will have his come true - a family trip to Disneyland, Calif.