SCARBOROUGH — It’s been kind of a big
year for Alicia Fournier, of Scarborough, and she’s only 13.
But at that tender age,
the tiny brunette with a big voice has already experienced highs few can dream
of, and lows fewer still can image. Described by her mother Julie as “just
the most terrific kid,” Fournier’s life journey has taken her from a huddle
outside the nurse’s office at Wentworth Intermediate School, struggling to keep
up with her peers, to a standing ovation at New York City’s famed Radio City
Music Hall.
"That was one of the
best nights of my life! It felt like a dream coming true!" wrote Fournier
in an email hours after her performance on April 5.
Diagnosed with epilepsy
at age 3, and subject to daily seizures that stole entire chunks of her memory,
Fournier found she was, in other ways, something of a prodigy.
By age 6, she was singing
on stage in local community theater productions. By age 9, she was headlining
local Broadway reviews to raise money for the National Epilepsy Foundation. The
most recent show, in May, 2011, raised more than $10,000 for FACES (Finding
A Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures), a nonprofit organization affiliated with NYU
Langone Medical Center, where she receives treatment.
In August, Fournier, underwent her
second brain operation, after a previous surgery failed to end her seizures and
16 different medications proved ineffectual. However, while the second surgery
has so far proven successful, it came with a price – removing bits of her brain
to end the awful tremors cost the young girl part of her vision.
“The first go-round, we made the choice for her
to have the surgery,” said Julie Fournier, referring to her husband, tugboat
Captain Brian Fournier. “But by the second time she was 12. We said, it’s your
life and you need to help us decide what to do.”
Alicia didn’t hesitate, giving the green light
almost immediately in hope of ending the seizures that happened “almost every
day,” sometimes with “almost constant seizure activity” lasting 10 days
straight.
So far, Alicia is symptom free, although her mom
still worries.
“I still walk on eggshells every day,” she said.
“Her, not so much. Even with the vision loss, she’s excited just to be living
her life.
“She’s very, very mature about some really,
really serious stuff that kids should not have to know about,” she
continued.“But she’s never let it get her down. She’s never even asked, ‘Why
me?’”
It was while recovering from surgery at the
FACES center at NYU that Alicia sang for her doctors. One of the child life
specialists heard her, and nominated her for the Garden of Dreams Talent Show.
Founded
in 2006 by the
nonprofit Garden of Dreams Foundation, the show uses the resources of The
Madison Square Garden Co. to help children faced with life-altering health
obstacles.
Alicia was one of just 20 youngsters picked from among
hundreds of nominees to perform at the 2012 show. Her experience included
auditioning for and getting tips from a panel of Broadway stars that included
Derrick Baskin from "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,"
Justin Johnston of "Rent," Christina Sajous of "Spider-Man: Turn
Off the Dark" and Tony Vincent of "American Idiot."
“One of the celebrity mentors she sang for was
Darryl McDanials – D.M.C. from Run-D.M.C. At a rehearsal a week before the show
he told her she could walk into an theater in the city and go to work, she was
ready,” recounted Julie Fournier, clearly still flush from the compliment.
“She was pretty phenomenal,” said mom, after the
show. “She has this absolute gift-from-God voice. I take no credit at all for
that, because I cannot sing a note.”
Alicia said she “absolutely, like a million
percent,” wants to make a career on Broadway, especially after her first, small
taste.
“That’s her aspiration,” her mom said. “The rest
is all really secondary to Alicia’s life. It’s a passion for her,
but it’s also that place in her life where she just goes in and shines. Because
of this illness, a good portion of her life is challenge and struggle. But
despite everything, she’s always had this one part of her life that she shines,
that makes her an incredible young lady. I’m just so incredibly proud of her.”
Perhaps proving her mother’s point, Alicia does
not point to the applause she received when asked what she enjoyed most about
her experience. It was not the taste of fame, the adulation, or the many media
interviews she gave on New York City TV as an equal draw to celebrity
judges.
Her most lasting memory?
“I made a lot of great friends,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment