By Mike Caputo
Among the crowd of 180 students waiting for their gym assignments, was one boy who stood out in the large crowd assembled for the highly enrolled ninth-period class.
Before taking roll call for her own class, Roseto approached the young boy, who was restricted to a manual wheelchair.
After a brief discussion, Roseto learned three things about the boy: his name was Danny Cornejo, he was a freshman and he had a rare bone disease that made him especially prone to injuries.
Once she ascertained that Cornejo was wrongly placed in a highly physical class, she received approval to teach him on an extensive one-on-one basis. That was five years ago, and Roseto is still a strong advocate for her former student.
Cornejo, now an 18-year-old student at Nassau Community College and a graduate of Lawrence High School's class of 2007, suffers from a genetic bone disorder that is commonly referred to as Brittle Bone Syndrome.
The inherited disease, medically coined as Osteogenesis Imperfecta, affects soft connective tissue and causes bone fractures from the mildest of trauma.
In addition to frequent bone fractures, people with the disease often face skeletal deformities, respiratory difficulties, weak muscles and shortened life spans.
Cornejo has already gone through dozens of casts and a handful of surgeries for bone-related injuries. Restricted to a wheelchair for his entire childhood, he would not go outside much beyond school and work duties.
Cornejo started his school career at the Number Six School in Inwood. Since the school did not have an elevator, his daily routine became a struggle. Upon finishing third grade, Cornejo decided to take an alternative route; he enrolled at the Henry Viscardi School in Albertson for students with physical disabilities.
After spending two years at Viscardi, Cornejo missed his Five Towns friends and decided to give his former district another chance.
The adjustment curve from Viscardi to Lawrence Middle School was not as steep, says Cornejo -- he was already well-acquainted with many peers from his days at Number Six School.
Still, he could not get comfortable. Frequent accidents never helped either. During his middle school years, a physical trainer tried to convince him to attempt taking a few steps on his own power. After several refusals, Cornejo finally gave into his therapist's wishes. Slowly, he took two steps. On the third step, he suffered a double bilateral femur fracture.
Because of the injury, Cornejo had to wear a v-cast, similar to what Roseto described as "body armor."
In another instance, a girl accidentally backed into Cornejo's wheelchair and fell on him. As a result, Cornejo began to wear two leg braces. They didn't serve a purpose, other than protection from potential
trauma.
Upon seeking advice from an adult with the same condition, Roseto convinced her student to shed his fears and remove the braces in high school. "I had always been traumatized of breaking bones," Cornejo said. Since he continually worried about breaking bones, it would often impact his studies and school attendance.
Whenever it rained or snowed, Cornejo would stay home rather than risk an injury.
"I don't want Danny to ever use his wheelchair as an excuse," Roseto said. The intense one-on-one physical education was a difficult adjustment for him. He had physical therapists in the past, but never a person like Roseto.
She even went so far as to ban a phrase from her student's rhetoric. "There is no 'I can't- in my world," Roseto said. "And at that point, Danny was in that 'I can't' mode."
Despite initial reservations, Cornejo believed in his teacher and followed her instructions. Holding the back of the wheelchair, Roseto and Cornejo would often run several miles around the track.
"When we were running and Danny said 'I'm tired,' I would say 'What? Five more laps," Roseto said.
As he became older and more confident, Roseto took Cornejo on walks outside of the campus.
"Anytime I say I can't, she proves me wrong," Cornejo said.
Outdoor exploration was an aspect that remained dear to Roseto. The teacher said it was important for him to gain the confidence to travel beyond his usual four-block radius.
To Roseto, it is not acceptable for Cornejo to miss school or work because of bad weather. "Do you understand that in your future, you will get fired?" Roseto recalled telling her student.
Raised by a Spanish-speaking single mother, Cornejo has always served as her translator. As a young child, it became customary for Cornejo to perform grown-up responsibilities like scheduling appointments with his doctors.
His mother, Miriam, is a native El Salvadorian who recently earned her United States citizenship. In their small Inwood apartment she raised her son and his 14-year-old sister, Andrea, both born in America. Miriam works six days weekly as a housekeeper in various homes.
The El Salvadorian native came to the United States after being abandoned by husband. She arrived without money or family, while pregnant with her son.
Even though language barriers make it difficult for Miriam, her son is grateful for everything she has done for him. "To me, she is everything," Cornejo said.
Miriam, who does not own a car or driver's license, regularly walked her son one mile to his after school job at Sobol's Distributors in Inwood. There, Cornejo would pitch in for household expenses by selling lottery tickets and even utilizing his math and technological skills by helping the owners with their bookkeeping.
Presently, Cornejo continues do work at Sobol's while taking courses at Nassau Community College's business school. He strives to earn his bachelor's degree and a Master's in Business Administration so he can eventually run his own company someday.
Roseto has realized that Cornejo may not achieve his goals if he cannot operate independently. To get from Inwood to Nassau Community in Garden City, Cornejo pays $7 roundtrip within a subscription to ABLE-Ride service, a handicapped accessible form of public transportation.
However, ABLE-Ride is not the quickest form of transportation. From when he finishes class at 2:15 p.m., it may take about three hours before he arrives in Inwood, normally a 30-minute drive.
In an effort to streamline his daily
routine, Roseto has organized a not-for-profit organization for Cornejo called
"I'll Stand by You."
Ideally, Roseto envisions Cornejo independently driving himself to school and work in a special handicap friendly van. The goal of the organization is to raise money for the vehicle and two years' car insurance, important things his family can't afford.
To further increase his mobility, she would like to raise enough money to purchase a laptop for Cornejo , so he can work wherever he travels.
The non-profit organization is in place to aid Cornejo, a freshman college student with a history of helping others.
He was active in the community service based Key Club, an organization advised by Roseto. He helped organize several events at the high school, including school blood drives, Special Olympics and the annual Relay for Life.
"Ms. Roseto has been my motivation at school," Cornejo said. "Basically before I met her, I didn't care about anything.
"Ms. Roseto pushed me to do my work. She got me through a lot."
Comments about this story? Mcaputo@liherald.com or 516-569-4000 ext. 210.
