Sarai Arce was never able to participate in dance or gym in the past, her mom said.
A 6-year-old with a brittle bone disease is a ballerina, thanks to a special dance class.
“I like dancing,” little Sarai Arce told InsideEdition.com.
Because of her condition, the 6-year-old from Orlando, Fla., was never able to join a traditional dance class previously. Even at her school gym class, Sarai has to sit out.
“If someone trips — pushes her by mistake — she could fall and fracture, so it’s hard for her to participate like other regular kids,” her mom Wanda Arce explained. “The last time she fractured, it was horrible. She had to be rushed to the emergency room and it’s just a really, really awful experience to not be able to help her and see her suffering like that.”
But thanks to "Come Dance With Us," a special program at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children that's developed by both professional ballerinas of the Orlando Ballet and rehabilitation experts from Orlando Health, Sarai has a safe venue to participate in kid-friendly activities.
“Her sister is in gymnastics, so they incorporate that in her physical therapy. They have a balance beam for her so that she doesn’t feel left out, and she loves that,” Wanda explained. “The teacher does ballet moves with her in physical therapy, so little by little, she tries to incorporate something else that she could do on her own.”
Thanks to the rehabilitation element of the class, Sarai is also able to strengthen muscles crucial to keeping her healthy without it feeling like a doctor’s appointment.
“She loves it," her mom said. "She’s always dancing around the house."
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