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Poland community unites to support 18-year-old aneurysm survivor
POLAND
A group of Poland Seminary High School students spent their first Friday night of summer vacation hanging out at school.
They weren’t there against their will; the students showed up in droves to support their classmate, 18-year-old Gabriella Hryb, who is recovering after suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm in April.
Friday night’s fundraising event – the Family Fun Night – was in the Bulldogs’ stadium and included games, auctions, food vendors and an outdoor movie screening on the football field.
Gabriella and her family – her father, Jimmy, mother, Christine, brother Jacob and sister Gianna – attended the fundraiser and were showered with support upon arrival.
Julie Walsh, a family and career sciences teacher at PSHS who instructed Gabriella, was the fundraiser’s primary organizer. She said the event began when her students – she also is the adviser for the school’s Family Careers and Community Leaders of America extracurricular organization – asked what they could do to support their classmate.
The fundraiser started as a movie screening and grew to encompass a number of events, food vendors and supporting organizations.
“The kids came to me with the idea, and I said, ‘Well, if we’re going to do this, let’s go big,’” Walsh said.
She praised Gabriella for her penchant for public service – she is also a member of the FCCLA as well as Poland school district’s Big Dog-Little Dog program, where high-school students visit and act as peer mentors for elementary-school students – and her positive personality.
Hryb’s family, and many of the fundraiser’s attendees, wore yellow shirts featuring a smiling face and the phrase “Smiles for Gabby.”
“She’s always got a big smile on her face,” Walsh said.
Members of St. John the Baptist Church in Campbell, the Hryb family’s parish, originally had planned to do their own fundraiser for the family, but after hearing of Walsh’s effort, decided to combine forces.
The Rev. Andrew Nelko of St. John the Baptist and close to 40 parishioners attended the event, selling kolachi, hot dogs, kielbasa sandwiches and cupcakes as part of the fundraising effort.
Father Nelko said the church would continue to support the Hryb family as Gabby’s recovery continues.
Despite her injury, Gabriella managed to complete her senior year and even participated in the school’s commencement ceremony.
During the fundraiser, Gabriella wore the smile that inspired the yellow shirts. She could hardly progress past the event’s entrance without greeting well-wishers.
When asked what she would say to all the individuals who reached out and offered support to her since her injury, she said she’d thank them, offer her love and her sincere appreciation. “I don’t know what to say,” she said through a smile, collecting her thoughts. “Do you think that’s good?”
For the community members rallying around her, there is little doubt that her sentiment – and continued recovery – is more than enough.