Alba gets by with a lot
of help from her friend

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

Alba Farina’s Rosalie Street home in Wissinoming is decked out in artwork, much of it her own.
Art has become a form of therapy for her; it enables her to pass the long hours spent in her rowhouse.
She spends those long hours indoors because a spinal injury and other debilitating ailments make it difficult for her to get around.
But Alba Farina wasn’t always this way.
"I was the picture of Miss Activity," she said, lying on a sofa as her roommate and caretaker, Ed Vargas, sat at the other end.
Farina is 43 now, but she was just 29 when the downward spiral began. She’d decided to go roller skating for the first time and she fell, her legs widening into what she called an "involuntary split," and the mishap tore Farina’s sciatic nerve along the right side of her body.
Recovery would be a long and laborious process, since it takes nerves a long time to heal, she said.
"When it comes to the spine, when you hurt your spine, you may as well be floating out into the Pacific Ocean without a life raft," she said.
And so it went. Farina began using a cane, she filed for Social Security benefits. Eventually she started getting better.
Fast-forward 10 years, and you have a relatively independent Farina; she moved out of her parents’ house and into her own apartment, she learned how to drive using her left foot, and she found part-time work.
Then one day she went to an art festival, where she met Vargas, whom she termed a "master artist." A friendship ensued. But just as things were beginning to look up, enter the mishap that has had lasting repercussions.
In an attempt to give her feet a break, Vargas placed Farina on his back to carry her. She fell and aggravated the injury that had damaged her body years earlier.
Again, she endured the recovery process; gradually her condition seemed to improve. Then, more than three years ago, Farina fell yet again, this time while riding a bus. She was returning from Atlantic City when the bus lurched forward from a complete stop, sending Farina — who was switching seats from the front to the back — tumbling over the seats and onto the floor. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her good leg, suffered a tear in the hip on her good side, injured her pelvis and tore a hamstring — also on her good side — and reinjured her sciatic nerve.
These injuries pretty much shut down Alba Farina for good.
"I’ve just gone downhill from there," she said.
She has been to numerous doctors throughout the years, and continues to schedule appointments with specialists. But insurance and mounting medial bills continue to be a problem. She can’t work, much less get up off the couch, so money is clearly an issue.
Both Farina and Vargas are proponents of a universal health-care system, saying they feel disenfranchised with the current situation. They also feel that elected officials have left stranded people like Farina, who, as much as they wish otherwise, have become dependent on others.
"Even on a pragmatic level, you would want your people to be as OK as they can," Farina said, referring to politicians and their constituents.
As for her own situation, Farina does have some options on the table. She has MRIs scheduled, she’ll visit a Drexel University College of Medicine neurologist in July, and she’s even looking into alternative medicine offered at a facility in China.
And her two family doctors have been very helpful, she said.
"We have a lot on our plates of possibilities," Farina said, before an annoyed Vargas chimed in, "But nothing here, though."
It’s at this moment that a relatively quiet Vargas voices disdain at the possibility that Farina may have to travel to another country, such as China, to receive the treatment she needs. He said it’s disgraceful that Farina should feel abandoned by her own homeland.
"I don’t see why we have to go to another country to get help," he said.
But the very laid-back Farina takes things in stride. She acknowledges that her situation is difficult (she even openly admitted that she has had suicidal thoughts in the past), but she stressed that all of this is not just about her; she wants others in similar predicaments, those who were once active but whose lives changed in a split second, to have a second chance at an independent life as well.
For Farina, Vargas has been a godsend. The boyish-looking 54-year-old was a streetwise Vietnam veteran before he moved in with Farina about two to three years ago, she joked. Since then, he has been her constant helping hand.
"He’s my legs for everything," Farina said. "He goes to the store and takes me to the doctor."
Before he started caring for Farina, Vargas didn’t even have a driver’s license. He currently works odd jobs from time to time, but he pretty much spends his days looking after his friend. Perhaps their close bond is why Vargas is so protective of Farina, and explains why he gets agitated by a situation that seems to have no end in sight.
"How’s it your fault if you’re not getting better?" Vargas said to Farina last week. "If you’re not getting better, you’re not getting better."
Turning to the interviewer, Vargas said, "Nothing helped her and then I had to put up with her in pain. Ain’t nothing they have done that’s given her any relief."
Vargas is displeased that specialists just seem to tell Farina to take narcotics for pain, since this quick fix only masks the problem, he said. The two can’t seem to get solid answers on how to make Farina better.
For Farina, the most difficult thing is not being able to get around on her own.
"Before all of this, I never asked anybody for anything," she said.
Vargas is making an appeal to the public to see if anyone is willing to donate a used van or SUV equipped with a ramp/lift so Farina is able to get out more often. While she wouldn’t be able to drive it, she would be able to get her wheelchair in and out of the vehicle, thus enabling her to once again feel more independent.
Farina said in going public with her story, the idea is to raise awareness of the many people out there who, just like her, once led active lives but were rendered disabled in the blink of an eye.
"It’s not just me," she said. "It’s so many anonymous, active people."
The ironic thing is that Farina grew up around a disabled mother, and thus believed she knew what it would be like to be rendered virtually helpless. It isn’t until somebody goes through something like this that the impact is truly understood, she added.
"We all take things for granted," Farina said. "But any disease or injury can happen at any time. Any time, something can come up and blindside you and hit you upside your head."
Thankfully, in addition to Vargas, Farina has a loving family who helps her out and remains supportive, including her parents, Salvatore and Anna Farina, and sister Maria, who "helps me out big time." Vargas, however, has been a true shining star, and for this, Farina said, "I’m very appreciative."
For Vargas, a mere chance to help out his good friend was payment enough.
"It changed my whole life," he said. "Before I met her, I was hardcore South Philly. When she got worse and everything, my heart just went out to her."
In addition to doing household chores like cooking and the laundry, Vargas has made some additions to the house, such as installing a handrail in the bathroom for Farina to use.
"He’s my caretaker," Farina said. "I don’t know where I’d be without him."
Vargas doesn’t go out much himself these days, although Farina urges him to have a life outside of their situation. Vargas, however, knows where he belongs.
"I’m not motivated to leave," he said. "This is where my obligation is."
Perhaps Vargas feels he owes Farina a debt of gratitude. As the story goes, Vargas suffered a stroke in May 2004 while at home alone. He was afraid to call an ambulance, because of monetary concerns, so he tried to contact friends and family, but to no avail. Ultimately he called a sleeping Farina, who went to her friend’s aid. That was during Farina’s better days. She took Vargas to the hospital, where he remained for five days.
"Al stayed by my side through the whole thing," Vargas said. "She saved my life, that’s why I’m here." ••
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com