School Rallies Around Former Student

By [Gavin Aronsen] On the day before her 10th birthday, Lauren Arena"s ordinary childhood changed dramatically. It was when she had her first seizure, which has since developed into an unknown illness leaving her wheelchair-bound and forced to spend much of her time at her home. To show its support, the Catholic high school Lauren attended, Saint Vincent Ferrer on the Upper East Side, is hosting its first-ever Christmas fair Dec. 4, to help the Arena family raise money for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for their daughter. Lauren, 19, graduated from the school in June after finishing her senior year from home through an arrangement with Sister Gail Morgan, the principal, and the city"s Board of Education. â??We don"t typically have benefits or Christmas fairs or anything like that, but we decided this year, because she is one of our own, that we would try to raise some funds, said Beth Saxton, president of the school"s parents association. Before Lauren"s condition developed, her mother Angela said, she participated in dance and karate and took acting lessons. But by the time she left elementary school she was using a wheelchair sporadically. Now, what doctors believe may be progressive myoclonic epilepsy has weakened Lauren"s hands and legs and impaired her speech. If she moves too much, her body becomes shaky, which leads to seizures. In the past three years, she has used her wheelchair regularly. None of the doctors Lauren has seen have been able to determine exactly what her condition is because every test she has undertaken has returned inconclusive results. â??They all say I"m not textbook, Lauren said. Despite this, Angela said her daughter has maintained a healthy attitude. â??My daughter has a great sense of humor, Angela said. â??She"s really adapted to this unfortunate situation and she rarely complains about all the things she has to go through on a daily basis. The Arena family is currently in the process of setting up a foundation that will help raise awareness of and funds for epilepsy-related illnesses. â??I want to make sure it gets set up the right way and accomplishes what we want it to accomplish, she said. Although Lauren graduated, students and faculty at Saint Vincent Ferrer continue to support the family, in ways that extend beyond planning the Christmas fair. She keeps in regular contact with her friends at the school, and she was able to attend her senior prom. Back when Lauren was finishing her senior year, teacher Patricia Mincone would travel to Queens where the family lives to teach her religion. â??They have truly been a blessing for us, Angela said about the supporters at the school. â??They have gone out of their way to help Lauren feel like a part of the family even though she wasn"t able to attend fully. Lauren recently returned home from a two-week stay at a hospital where doctors again tried to determine more about her illness. Because of that, she has been unable to start the online college courses she planned to start after high school. Yet Lauren still keeps positive. She reads books regularly on her Kindle, enjoys watching TV and plans to start taking online college courses before much longer. â??I mean, hey, I"m in a wheelchair, but I"m still a teenager, Lauren said. The Saint Vincent Ferrer benefit will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dec. 4, at 151 E. 65th St., near Lexington Avenue. More than 25 tables will be set up to sell handmade crafts and other gifts and food items. A cafÃ&Copy; will provide lunch and drinks.