Disease Victim’s Story Strikes a Chord : Donations: Thanks to $4,000 from the public, Deb Comer stands to realize her dream of singing in Russia.

It appears that Deb Comer, who is afflicted with schleroderma, a deadly skin disease, will be granted her wish to sing “The Messiah” in Russia this winter.

The Stanton woman had despaired of traveling to Moscow and St. Petersburg with her chorale because of the $2,500 price tag for the trip.

But people responded to a newspaper story last week by sending a total of about $4,000 to the Cypress Masterworks Chorale to pay for her trip. One woman sent a check for $2,500.

Comer, who cannot work because of her illness, receives welfare payments for her four children.

Chorale director Sheridan Ball, who is administering the donations, said the extra money will be used to support Comer’s project to write a book about her struggle with the illness.

Schleroderma has so crippled Comer’s hands that she cannot tie the laces on her shoes. She had kidney failure two years ago, and though she recovered, she recently had surgery to relieve constriction of her throat. Doctors say the disease will freeze her internal organs and kill her within 10 years.

Comer sat at her kitchen table earlier this week with a pile of about 50 letters and notes that people have sent her. Some mailed money, others mailed love.

“I bawled my head off reading these letters--because people care,” Comer said.

“Dear friend--bless you on your trip to Moscow,” wrote someone from Brea, who included a $5 bill in the envelope.

“Dear Deb--I’m going to try real hard not to sweat the stupid things anymore,” wrote a Santa Ana woman, who added “love” before her name and included $25.

“You are a beautiful person and I am better for having read the article about you,” wrote a woman from Lubbock, Tex., who was vacationing briefly in Orange County.

“For them to write me as if they really know me is truly a compliment,” Comer said. “I feel honored and want to write back to each one of them.”