Heritage Snapshot: Part 85

It’s October 15, 1994. She is crying tears of joy as she is being swept off her feet by Brian Robertson, #55 on Riverside (California) Christian School’s football team. You see, Mary Van Dyke has just been crowned homecoming queen. Born July 12, 1977, with 23 physical and neurological anomalies, Mary was not supposed to survive infancy. Then, it was thought she would never be able to do more than lift her head. Mary was born with the Mary Van Dyke syndrome, a condition so rare that her doctors at Loma Linda University Medical Center later named it after her. But Mary was born a fighter. With encouragement from her big sister, Alice, and her parents, Pete and Pat Van Dyke, Mary learned to crawl and climb stairs and eventually to walk with the help of a tiny aluminum walker. When she was 8, her medical records weighed more than she did. Mary has had heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart. She has undergone hip construction, hand surgeries, and ear surgeries. She has undergone facial reconstruction, including cleft palate repair, extensive dental surgery, and orthodontia. Just before her 31st operation, and as the crowd cheered, 17-year-old Mary Van Dyke walked onto the field to be named homecoming queen of Riverside Christian School. The determined teenager has earned an “A” average and the admiration of an entire school. Many fought to maintain their composure as an astonished Mary was crowned and handed a bouquet of red roses. That’s when her escort, Brian, scooped her into his arms and carried her off the field as her family and the whole school watched. “After everything she’s gone through,” said school administrator, Vance Nichols, “I just can’t stop crying.” In a feature published the next day in the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Nichols said, “Our school is a better place because of her. Our kids are better kids because of her. My faith is a stronger one because of her.” According to her mother, Mary faces a lifetime of periodic surgery for various problems. For strength, Mary will continue to rely on her faith in God. Mary Van Dyke is a royal inspiration. In an update received on July 30, 2008, her parents declared that Mary’s life continues to be a “path of miracles.” After her graduation from Cal Baptist University in 1999, Mary worked for the City of Canyon Lake. In 2004, she was named “Canyon Lake’s Woman of the Year.” In 2006, she married Tom Snooks, a teacher at a Christian school from San Diego. And according to the Van Dykes’, “He worships the ground that she walks on. He’s such a great guy!” In 2008, Mary gave birth to a perfect baby boy. He weighed 7 pounds and was 21 inches long. Mary is now an accountant for Walden Family Services in San Diego, an organization that places special-needs children in foster and adoptive homes. And, according to her mother, she continues to make an impact on so many lives with her “zest for life. She is our inspiration.”