Burnaby NewsLeader, March 16, 2012

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MP SAYS WE NEED LABELS ON TOXICS

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CATCHING UP WITH CECILIA

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HELP SD41 BALANCE ITS BOOKS

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FRIDAY

MARCH 16 2012

www.burnabynewsleader.com

Jinhee Park will be performing on the viola on March 24 at Cliff Avenue United Church. See Page 15

$1.2M for new turf Wanda Chow burnabynewsleader.com

MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER

Cecilia Ferreira will be competing for the title of Miss Teen Canada World in Toronto in July, where she hopes to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation by telling the story of her own heart transplant when she was 13 years old.

Living life with all her heart Mario Bartel photo@burnabynewsleader.com

Cecilia Ferreira always dreamed of becoming a beauty queen. In July the 18-year-old St. Thomas More student will travel to Toronto as Miss Teen World Burnaby to compete with 69 other young women from across the country for the title of Miss Teen Canada World. She’s also using this opportunity to raise awareness about something very near and dear to her heart. In fact, it is her heart. When Cecilia was born her heart

was missing a valve and several arteries. Doctors didn’t give her much chance of survival, let alone reaching adulthood. For years she de¿ed them. But her lips and hands regularly turned purple. She couldn’t run and play soccer with her friends. When she wasn’t being tested and treated at B.C. Children’s Hospital, she spent time with her menagerie of pets that included four cats and four dogs, a bird and a rabbit, Precious. She didn’t allow herself to dream beyond the next procedure, the next attempt to keep her heart beating.

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Cecilia was 13 when her doctors determined her heart had endured enough poking and prodding, snipping and sewing; she needed a new one. Her gift of life was implanted in her chest that June at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. As she recuperated, Cecilia decided she wasn’t just going to run in the park with her dogs and her friends, she was going to run with her renewed life. She hasn’t stopped. “I feel like I owe it to the donor family. It’s a motivation. When I get so tired I always think ‘why not, it’s

not going to hurt me to give as much as I’ve got.’” And she’s got a lot. Aside from regular check-ups and monthly blood work, the only restriction on Cecilia’s life is that she can’t drink grapefruit juice because it will react with her anti-rejection drugs. So she’s unleashed all that energy she couldn’t expend as a kid. She plays soccer and participates fully in gym class, she dances ballet and she has three roles in an upcoming musical production of Hairspray. Please see ‘I’VE WON ALREADY’, A3

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Burnaby council approved $1.2 million on Monday for the second phase in the replacement of the city’s ¿rst three arti¿cial turf ¿elds. The ¿elds, at the Central Valley complex, were installed in 1999. At the time, the ¿elds were an innovative product that has since been improved upon, said a city staff report. The expected lifespan of the arti¿cial turf— synthetic “grass” on a bed of ground up rubber “soil” to mimic natural grass ¿elds—was 10 years, and the warranty was eight years. “Overall the ¿elds have performed well. However, after 12 years in use, the carpet is now worn through and the surface has compacted to create a very hard landing surface for players.” After talks with sport user groups, it was decided ¿elds would be replaced one year at a time. Please see NEW, A3

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