Ronnie Polaneczky | Chinika feels our readers' love
ONE GOOD SAMARITAN donated to Chinika Perez the used car he'd been planning to sell. Three others are pooling their talent and cash to build her the wheelchair ramp she so desperately needs.
ONE GOOD SAMARITAN donated to Chinika Perez the used car he'd been planning to sell.
Three others are pooling their talent and cash to build her the wheelchair ramp she so desperately needs.
And a honey-voiced singer has offered his talents, free, for a fundraiser.
All of them are Daily News readers who were so moved by Chinika's story, which I shared two weeks ago, that they had to open their hearts to her.
"This is so wonderful," said Chinika yesterday, when I delivered to her more than $1,800 in donations from additional readers who were as touched as I was by both her plight and her joyful spirit. "These people have never even met me. I can't believe anyone would do this for me!"
But, as reader Jerry Dugan says, "How can anyone hear her story and not want to help?"
Dugan is a Center City attorney who, with his wife and grown children, donated $500 to Chinika. Dugan and his wife will soon meet with Chinika to discuss a long-term financial commitment to her, so she can better manage the obstacles of living with a devastating disability.
"I've been given a lot," says Dugan, who's in remission from prostate cancer. "That gives you a responsibility to others who have less. The simplest thing I can do is to give back."
Have I said how much I love Daily News readers?
A year ago, Chinika, 27, was shot by a man she had barely begun dating. The bullet tore through her left thigh, severing her femoral artery and vein. Surgeons at Temple University Hospital were able to save her life, but medical complications resulted in the amputation of her left leg, at the thigh, and her right leg, below the knee. Her arms, too, were affected, and her hands are now frozen and stiff.
The independence she once relished - she worked full time and lived on her own with her two kids, Bianca, 5, and Matthew, 2 - is gone, now that she is confined to a wheelchair. She and her kids now live with her mom, in Olney, and money is tight.
Despite it all, Chinika radiates joy. Two weeks ago, when the man who shot her was sent away for up to 27 years for his crime, she vowed to let his sentence be her new beginning.
Reader response to Chinika's resilience was overwhelming.
"I'm a runner, and I can't imagine not having my legs," said Al Frances, owner of Consider It Done barbershop in old Kensington. "The fact that she keeps smiling, it amazes me."
Frances also does carpentry work and has offered to build the wheelchair ramp Chinika needs to make her mom's house accessible to the outdoors. Helping will be Jose Nerez, of Northeast Philly, who's about to be laid off from his job of 27 years at Stone Container. Nonetheless, he says his woes pale in comparison to Chinika's, so he wants to help build her a ramp since he, too, does construction work.
As for reader Glenda Rodriguez, she called to say that she has friends who will pay for the ramp's construction materials.
"Whatever we can do to help, we want to do," she said.
Then there is Tony, who doesn't want his last name used, who read how Chinika's mom had no way to get her to therapy, because her car had been stolen the week I wrote Chinika's story.
"To tell you the truth, I'm in debt," said Tony, a father of two who buys and sells used cars as a side job and who'd hoped to pocket $1,000 on the Toyota Corolla he decided instead to give to Chinika's mom. "But I knew I had to give her the car."
At Hernandez Auto Tags, where Tony transferred the car's tags, manager Maritza Santiago waived her agency's fees.
"We wanted to be Good Samaritans," said Santiago.
As for Harry Petaccio, he's a nightclub-style entertainer whose elderly mom, Lillian, called to volunteer his services should Chinika's family ever hold a fundraiser for her.
"He's wonderful," she said.
"Just tell me when and where," said Harry, who called later to confirm the offer.
On behalf of Chinika, thank you all for your kindness, which has helped a young, sweet and struggling mom feel so astoundingly cared for. *
To make a donation, make a check payable to "Chinika Perez" and send it to me; I'll make sure she gets your gift. Mail to: Ronnie Polaneczky, Philadelphia Daily News, Box 7788, 400 N. Broad St., Phila., PA 19101.
E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns: