By Cindy J. Roth
Jacquez spent most of September in a coma and endured 23 operations. She lost her left leg and suffered two badly fractured arms as well as many scrapes and bruises. The one thing Jacquez did not lose, however, was her sense of humor and positive outlook on life.
"Life goes on and you just have to deal with things," Jacquez said from her room in Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. She will be moving to a rehabilitation center in the next few weeks.
Jacquez, a dental assistant at Smiles on Broadway in Malverne for the past two years, created a home for herself and a new family at the dental office. Now that family is helping Jacquez on her road to recovery.
On Nov. 22, all revenue from treatments performed at Smiles on Broadway will be donated to Bianca's Fund. The money will help with the huge financial burdens Jacquez and her family face as she anticipates many months of intense therapy, rehabilitation and additional surgeries.
"On Friday everything, every cent, goes to her," said Smiles on Broadway dentist Steven Katz, who organized the event. "Every chair will be filled all day."
Staff members will forgo salaries for the day and the normally two-dentist office will expand to three, when a local dentist and hygienist volunteer their time so more patients can be seen. With lab work also being donated for the day, Katz estimates that the office will raise between $5,000 and $10,000. An anonymous donor has promised to match the amount of money raised, and in addition, the office is raffling off a television and a DVD player for $5 a ticket.
"I think it's wonderful," said Jacquez. "I don't know anywhere [else] where someone would do this for me. It's just amazing. All the girls there are like my sisters, and I miss them terribly. I can't wait to get back to work, and I never thought I'd say that."
Jacquez planned to start nursing school in September and move up to a management position in the office. For now, both have been put on hold. The tenacious 23-year-old -- whose nickname in the office is "W.O.I.," for wealth of information, because she knows something about everything -- said she will be back at work as soon as possible with a set of crutches, not a wheelchair.
"She's very sharp, witty and has the best sense of humor of anyone I know," said Christine Von Werne, a Smiles on Broadway employee. "She called me from the hospital and I asked her what phone she was calling from. She said her mother's cell phone, and I said, 'You can't use cell phones in hospitals.' She said, 'I know. I'm breaking all the rules. Next I'm going run with a pair of scissors.'"
Being able to laugh after a tragedy is a testimonial to Jacquez's character. The dental office encourages community members to support Bianca's Fund in any way they can.
