Vincent — poster boy for miracles

Melissa Schorr

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Vincent Taormina, a 9-year-old with Down syndrome, has grown so accustomed to his frequent visits to the hospital that sometimes he forgets he's the one who is sick.

"He'll stop in the rooms of other children, just to say hi and tell them to get better," says his mom, Shirley. "And he never asks for anything. After his nurses draw blood, he thanks them."

It is this attitude that endeared the Lummis Elementary School third-grader to University Medical Center workers, who have singled out Vincent to represent Nevada in the Children's Miracle Network's annual telethon on May 31.

Vincent, his mother and father, Gaspare, will travel to Washington, D.C., for breakfast with the Clintons in the White House, and then fly to Orlando, Fla., to tour Disney World and appear on the 21-hour "CMN Champions" broadcast.

"I think it's great that he'll finally have something positive in his life, because he's had nothing but illness," said Shirley Taormina, 36, a preschool teacher at Lit'l Scholar in Summerlin, where Vincent was a former student.

He was chosen by Mary Beth Robinson, head of UMC's pediatric unit, after he came in for repeated surgery on his esophagus this year.

"He was the most animated kid at our hospital's annual Christmas party," Robinson said. "When I told him he had been chosen, he was too busy running around hugging the nurses and dancing the Macarena with the doctors.

"President Clinton's going to get a kick out of him," she added with a laugh.

UMC, one of the Children's Miracle Network's local affiliates, used the $525,000 donated last year for its new pediatric emergency room. The hospital has designated upcoming donations for its pediatric oncology program, Robinson said. The Miracle Network, now in its 15th year, has raised more than $1 billion to date for its 165 pediatric centers across the nation.

Lit'l Scholar and Sparkletts, where Vincent's father works, also plan to raise money to be donated in Vincent's name.

"I want to do as much for the telethon from now on -- because they've done so much for my son," said Shirley Taormina. "But what I'd like to stress is this is not just for kids with chronic problems. It only takes one minute for a tragedy and your child is in the UMC, and you'd see why the Children's Miracle Network is necessary."

Meanwhile, Vincent is busy being prepped for his first plane ride. "I want him to be in a little suit when he meets the president, so we're going shopping this weekend," said Shirley Taormina. "He can already hold his hand out and say, 'Hi, Mr. President.'

"My son's going to go far. It'll take him a little longer, but I know he'll get there."