Lyrical
Miracle for Old Glory
Voiceless Teen Sings Star Spangled Banner for Indians-Rangers Game with DynaVox
Speech Generation Device.
Cleveland,
July 7, 2004 - Barely noticeable droplets of rain
fell on Jacobs Field in Cleveland tonight, as eighteen-year-old
Sara Pyszka got ready to roll her wheelchair to home
plate. She wasn't going to bat, but then again she was.
The talented
young woman, who has cerebral palsy and cannot use her
natural voice, hit an out-of-the-park grand slam home
run for people with disabilities everywhere, when she
sang
the Star Spangled Banner on her DynaVox speech generator.
As her Mom, Cindy,
covered Sara's DynaVox with a clear plastic rain protector,
Sara bridled, creating
a message on her machine that said she didn't
want to look geeky before the gathering crowd of 17,000
fans.
Happily, the sprinkle stopped and Sara steered her wheelchair
to join Alex Machaskee publisher of the Cleveland Plain
Dealer, and executives from Exceptional Parent Magazine
and DynaVox Systems, LLC. to receive an award in honor
of Disabilities Awareness Night.
While Sara rolled away, her mom saluted her the way performers
have done for generations. "I know you can't break
a leg, so blow out a tire," she said with a chuckle.
She said it the way only a Mom could say to a daughter
of whom she is extraordinarily proud. Sara smiled at the
joke.
When the awards ceremony was finished, the Indians' announcer
introduced Sara again. On the jumbotron Sara told her story.
And then she sang our National Anthem in a voice like nothing
anyone in the stadium had heard before. With nuanced rhythm,
subtle voicing and impassioned styling, Sara brought to
Francis Scott Key's tribute to the durability of our Nation,
a sense of newfound meaning. As though the tattered flag
he saw in the morning were a metaphor for the achievements
of all people with disabilities around the globe, Sara
sang her Nation's Anthem.
When she was finished, the fans cheered and cheered and
cheered. The Indians’ improbable-looking fuchsia
and yellow mascot, Slider, gave her a hug. Photographers
swarmed around them. Then she made her way down the third
base line with TV crews scrambling to keep up with her.
As though she had just scored the winning run, Cleveland
players applauded and cheered when she passed before the
Indians' dugout. Sara beamed while rolling toward the giant
utility doors in the outfield fence, while fans remained
on their feet, applauding and shouting accolades as she
exited the playing field.
On her way to her seat behind home plate to watch the
game with her family, as though to put a topping on an
already perfect evening, Indians Representative, Monica
Woodward gave her a team jersey signed by all the Cleveland
players.
Her performance was a first: A person without a voice
singing the National Anthem at a Major League Baseball
game. A lyrical miracle for Sara Pyszka, the Cleveland
Indians, People with Disabilities and the Star Spangled
Banner.
To learn more about Sara and her DynaVox, please visit
www.sara-sings.com or www.dynavoxsys.com or call 1-800-DYNAVOX.
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