SAN CLEMENTE : Bingo to Raise Funds for Artificial Leg

First it was leukemia, then Stefanie Gorman lost her right leg to infection triggered by the powerful medication she needed for cancer-related complications.

But throughout her two-year ordeal, Stefanie, 16, has kept one main goal: to someday be active again in the sports and activities that filled her life before she got sick.

To help her meet her goal, members of the San Clemente Elks Lodge, of which her grandparents are members, will host a bingo benefit today starting at 6:30 p.m.

Proceeds from the event, which will be held at the Elks lodge at 1505 N. El Camino Real in San Clemente, will go to help Stefanie and her parents, Richard and Karen, buy the special artificial legs she needs to participate in sports.

“She’s still out there fighting,” said Gini Graus, Stefanie’s grandmother. “She was an all-star goalie for soccer, a baseball catcher and on the swim team. She had her back-yard trampoline she was on all the time. She wants to get back into this. . . . She wants to be active again.”

Stefanie, who lost her leg in December, said she’s taken the amputation “pretty well.”

“For such a long time, I couldn’t walk on my real leg, I was so sick,” she said. “When they finally said I had no other choice, I said, ‘All right.’ . . . You just sit back and go, ‘Well, deal with it today.’ ”

Stefanie now gets around on an artificial leg that cost $27,000, only half of which was covered by her parents’ insurance. But the leg doesn’t look normal, and she needs different legs for specialized activities, such as swimming.

None of the specialized legs would be paid for by insurance.

It was back in January, 1991, at the beginning of her eighth-grade year, when Stefanie developed what appeared to be the flu but was later diagnosed as acute non-lymphocytic leukemia.

After receiving a lifesaving bone marrow transplant, she developed a potentially fatal reaction to the transplant and required large doses of drugs that weakened her immune system. During this time, she developed an infection in her right thigh, which necessitated the amputation.

Because of the medication, she’s also been left with scars on her eyes, a partial loss of hearing and lupus.

She has spent more than 15 months in the hospital, and her medical bills have reached about $4 million, about 90% of which has been covered through her parents’ insurance.

Through a variety of events, including the bingo benefit, members of the Elks lodge hope to raise $50,000 for the family.

“A lot of things are happening in this girl’s life that we can try and help her with,” said Bridget Ignarro, president of the San Clemente Elks Ladies Assn.

For more information on the fund-raiser, call the lodge at (714) 492-2068. Donations can also be sent in care of Don and Gini Graus, San Clemente Elks Lodge, 1505 N. El Camino Real, San Clemente, Calif. 92672.