Steps to Recovery : Ballet Lessons May Help Girl Stricken by Stroke

Five-year-old Gabriela Cerda has dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer one day.

But last May the Huntington Beach girl suffered a devastating stroke after surgery that repaired a hole in her heart. She was unable to feed herself, walk or even sit up on her own.

Now, just three months after the stroke, “Gaby” is not only walking, she’s beginning to dance.

The little girl has started taking lessons at the Imperial Russian Ballet School in Tustin. Although she still walks with a limp because of partial paralysis on her left side, and her speech has not returned to normal, she has made remarkable progress so far, her mother said.

“It’s truly a miracle,” said Sophia Cerda, 28.

Cerda said doctors at Children’s Hospital of Orange County originally estimated that Gaby would have to stay there for three months after the stroke.

In less than three weeks, however, Gaby had improved to the point where she was transferred to an in-patient physical therapy program at Tustin Rehabilitation Hospital. She was released a month later.

“It was a very hard shock, initially,” according to the mother, who said the stroke affected both sides of Gaby’s brain. “Now we feel very, very happy because every day we see the progress, the little changes that happen.”

Dr. Wilfred T. Escober, a neurologist at Tustin Rehabilitation Hospital, described Gaby as a fun and friendly patient. Escober does not know if Gaby will make a complete recovery, but “she’s going to make a lot more improvement,” he said.

Lisa McLune, a physical therapist who worked with Gaby, said that studying ballet should help the healing process.

“I think it’s wonderful for her,” McLune said of the dance lessons. “I think it’s also another way to express herself.”

As Gaby practiced some basic dance moves at the ballet school Friday, tears welled up in the eyes of her father, Victor Cerda, 29. He recalled that after the stroke, Gaby could not even hold up her head.

“She was just like a little baby, no coordination at all,” he said.

Also watching the dance lesson was M. Rosario Brown, Gaby’s teacher at Head Start Preschool in Huntington Beach. She described Gaby as a “very happy, very verbal” child who never missed a day of school until the stroke.

“She’s a lovely girl,” Brown said. “I want Gabriela back in my class. I requested her.”

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Ballet instructor Anna Vazquez said Gaby did “pretty well.”

“It’s going to help her a lot in her strength, flexibility and posture,” Vazquez said. “And that’s going to give her a lot of confidence.”

Gaby was invited to the dance school after Nancy Fontaine, activities director at Tustin Rehabilitation Hospital, contacted the school’s ballet principal, Maria Taggart. Fontaine had learned of Gaby’s wish to become a dancer while helping the little girl create a journal about her medical progress.

Taggart offered to let Gaby take lessons at the school for as long as she likes. Taggart also predicted that Gaby will become “a very good dancer” one day.

“She has a wonderful attention span because she’s been able to overcome so much,” Taggart said. “The one thing Gabriela has is enthusiasm.”

“I’m hoping she stays with me a long time,” Taggart added. “She’s really quite a sweetheart.”