A Good Deed - Gardiner Man Donates Handicap Van to Ellenville Family

ELLENVILLE - "Serendipity" is a word that isn't particularly familiar to Saira Sher. At the age of three, she and her mother were hit by a drunk driver, an accident that left Saira paralyzed from the neck down. Despite this, and despite the prognoses of doctors who said that she wouldn't live past the age of 13, Saira recently graduated from SUNY Ulster and is in the process of matriculating to SUNY New Paltz this coming fall, where she hopes to major in public relations.

Then another accident happened. Several weeks ago, Saira and her grandmother, Alice Colanga, were driving on the Northway near Lake George when a deer ran out in front of the specially designed van the wheelchair-bound Saira needs in order to get around. The van was totaled, putting in jeopardy Saira's hopes of attending school this fall. Alice, who raised Saira, is of limited means and had no way to replace the 16-year-old van.

"I had no idea what I was going to do," Alice says.

This is where the "serendipity" part kicks in.

After a story detailing Saira's situation appeared in the Times-Herald Record, a Good Samaritan came to the rescue in the form of one Joe Martignetti of Gardiner. Back in February, Joe had purchased a handicap-equipped Astro Van similar to the one Saira had been using. He didn't really know why he bought it, except that he used to have a similar model. When he read the story, it suddenly dawned on Joe that he had purchased it for Saira, though he didn't know this at the time. This past Monday, he donated the van to Saira, who now has a new set of wheels to get her back and forth to campus.

"I still cannot believe this," Alice says. "I'm just dumbstruck."

Joe says that in the months after he bought the van, he had worked to get it back on the road, after which he was planning on removing the wheelchair lift and refitting it as a passenger van. But a weird computer problem prevented him from making any progress on the project. His mechanic couldn't seem to locate the cause, so the van sat there for several months collecting dust. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Joe says that his mechanic figured out what was wrong and the van was back in working order.

When the van was totaled, Alice says that Saira was a bit unsure that the situation would resolve itself before the fall semester starts.

"She was skeptical," Alice says. "She knows we're on a fixed income and can't really afford anything."

The original van wasn't in very good shape. But it served its purpose well, and was better than nothing. Now Saira will have a van that is just eight years old, and has the added benefit of being a six cylinder, so Saira and Alice will save money on gas.

Joe says that he was very happy to donate the van, and that he's looking forward to the new friendships he's made because of this.

"I didn't do it for any kind of recognition," he says. "But I did make some new friends."

Saira will in fact be attending school just up the road from where Joe lives, so he told Saira and Alice to be sure to call on him if they need any help with anything. And the van is currently undergoing a brake repair and tune up at Tony's Towing, who are donating their labor.

Alice says that she, too, was at first dubious of the whole thing. But, after meeting Joe, she feels her faith in humanity renewed.

"The kindness of strangers is absolutely phenomenal," she says.