A magical night for a special young lady

By LINDA WENGER

Golden Triangle News Service

WAYLAND ? Cheyenne Sedlacek let it be known to her boyfriend that if he wanted to go to the prom with her, he had to take Sarah Unternahrer, too.

Sarah Unternahrer is a special needs student at WACO. She was born a normal baby girl, but four and a half months later, she contracted meningitis. She was a very sick baby.

After five weeks in the hospital, Sarah was deaf, suffered from hydrocephilitis and cerebral palsy. She has cochlear implants to help her hear, but she cannot talk and she can?t chew her food. She is in a wheelchair, but she can walk with the assistance of a walker or a person. She is the daughter of Carl and Jenny Unternahrer of Wayland.

Cheyenne, daughter of Tracie and Jim Sedlecek, said that Sarah has been her friend since she was in fourth or fifth grade, and she wanted Sarah to go to prom.

Jenny has organized an ?All Dolled Up? group to help girls find a dress for the prom so that no one needs to stay home for want of a dress. That is one of the other reasons Cheyenne wanted Sarah to go to the prom.

Ben didn?t hesitate a second. Jenny said he came and he had just as much fun as everyone else.

Jenny said that Sarah knows a little bit of sign language, but that most of the communication comes from ?mom reading Sarah.?

Jenny didn?t know if she wanted Sarah to go to the prom.

?Sarah doesn?t have a whole lot of knowledge about what?s going on,? Jenny explained. ?Like, we can miss birthdays and Christmas and she wouldn?t really know she was missing something.?

So last fall, Jenny began thinking about what kind of dress Sarah could wear in a wheelchair. Her mother sewed her wedding dress and prom dresses. So her mom sewed Sarah?s prom dress, too.

?I found a pattern, found some stretchy fabric that would sit down in the wheelchair nice,? Jenny said.

One day before the prom a box from Amazon arrived at the Unternahrers?. Inside was a tiara with a note that said, ?Every girl should be a queen.?

?I started shaking and everything,? Jenny continued. ?I almost cut myself trying to get the ribbon open.?

The tiara came from a member of an online mom group.

Sarah did sit still enough for a pretty updo. Jenny styled her hair with pins and rubber bands to secure the tiara. She couldn?t believe it when Sarah kept the crown on the whole night.

Sarah also wore a corsage on her wrist.

?She left it on the whole night,? Jenny said, ?since she usually doesn?t want things on her hands. ?She left it on and every time we took the jacket on and off and the gloves on and off, she?d put her hand out to put the corsage on.?

Sarah needed a fancy ride, Jenny thought. Jenny?s sister knew someone with a classic car. Colton Hinkle from Winfield-Mount Union High School dressed up and picked up Sarah, Cheyenne and their date, Ben Herzinger.

Jenny said, ?He said OK. He?s never met Sarah. He could have said no. He didn?t.?

Jenny went to the high school ahead of the trio so that she could take pictures and be there to help Sarah.

?I had no idea how this night ...,? Jenny said. ?I?m still not sure what she got other than a lot of joy.?

Sarah is not defined by her wheelchair, she said.

?I?m not sure who started it, but somebody started clapping,? Jenny said.

For the next few hours Sarah was the belle of the ball. She probably danced with more boys than any other girl.

?Anybody who was near, she grabbed, and if she grabbed them, they danced with her,? Jenny went on. ?It didn?t matter which kid.?

Jenny asked her daughter a few times if she was getting tired. A couple of times she said no before she said yes.

?The whole night was just fabulous,? she exclaimed. ?It was a lovely evening.?

The Unternahrers often ask themselves, ?Am I doing this for her or am I doing it for me.?

Jenny didn?t answer the question. All she knows is that for a few magic hours Sarah experienced friendship, laughter and joy.