Celebrating Life

Esmeralda Galvan remembered her daughter Sofia's long, good-spirited fight for life in their home in Fresno.

Sophia Elena Galvan, 26, died March 20, and the Mass was celebrated Friday in St. Helen's Catholic Church.

Miss Galvan's relatives and friends remembered a highly intelligent, dedicated woman who persevered despite painful injuries she suffered when another driver's truck struck her family's car when she was about 18 months old.

From toddler to student carrying a 4.0 grade-point average, she remained upbeat, even during her last years as a quadriplegic.

Miss Galvan had managed cheerfully to bear an ordeal that began when a vehicle driven by a 70-year-old man, who apparently was lost, ran through a stop sign and into the Galvan family's car.

It rolled twice, Esmeralda Galvan said.

Miss Galvan was injured high on her spinal cord, causing paralysis and impeding her breathing.

She was treated at University Medical Center, Valley Children's Hospital and finally Fresno Community Hospital. She underwent six operations on her eyes.

She spent her last three years in and out of the intensive care unit, Esmeralda Galvan said: "Everybody there knows us."

Esmeralda Galvan and aunts Linda and Pearl Guillen spoke in the family's living room in grief brightened by happy memories.

They spoke of how Miss Galvan had a life of medical crises, but also a spirit that always showed.

"The last two years, Sofia was in and out of the hospital with pneumonia, and coded on me seven times," her mother said with a tone that mixed her love of her daughter, and her effort and sense of accomplishment at extending her daughter's life. The short-hand "coded" referred to times when Miss Galvan's heart had stopped until medical intervention got it beating again.

The original traffic collision, followed by medical crises, failed to keep Miss Galvan from excelling at Roosevelt High School.

She never complained, her family said. When she got a new wheelchair, she said happily, "As soon as the weather's good, I'm going to go out."

She looked forward to meals at the family's favorite DiCicco's restaurant.

Miss Galvan took pride in her survival and success, telling people, "I'm a miracle child."

She received 24-hour in-home supportive care under the state Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Program.

Her aunts recalled a camping trip Miss Galvan loved, but Linda Guillen didn't. She called it "my first and last time. I don't sleep on rocks."

Miss Galvan's mother and aunts remembered how they had come to live with her severe injuries while celebrating the life she made for herself.

They concluded that it is the quality of life, not its length, that counts.

Miss Galvan had known more than her share of suffering, they said. Her father, Roberto, had died on Christmas 1998 from a drive-by shooting.

She loved watching "Days of Our Lives" on daytime television and remained excited at the autographed photo sent to her by Peter Reckell, who plays the character Bo Brady.

Comedian George Lopez sent her an autographed photo, hat and T-shirt plus a signed script from his show.

Miss Galvan celebrated an 18th birthday telephone call she received from running back Herschel Walker, then playing for her beloved Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman sent her a signed jersey.

Miss Galvan had been a star herself at her graduation from Roosevelt High in 2000, receiving a standing ovation as she participated from a gurney. Esmeralda Galvan remembered how her daughter and the rest of the family enjoyed her triumph together.