Wheelchair-accessible swing dedicated to late student

METHUEN — Students using wheelchairs at Comprehensive Grammar School can now ride on a swing built in honor of Christopher Segura, a disabled student who died last year.

Christopher’s family and classmates gathered for an emotional ceremony in the school auditorium yesterday when the school dedicated the wheelchair-accessible swing to Segura.

“You have no idea how much I miss his kisses, his smile,” Christopher’s father, Julio Segura, told the crowd.

Christopher died on Jan. 27, 2008, at the age of 12. He suffered from propionic acidemia and died of complications from an illness.

He used a wheelchair and an electronic device called a Dynavox to communicate, his teachers said.

“Probably one of the smartest kids I ever worked with,” said Rhona Melberg, a School Department physical therapist.

The new swing is on the playground, just outside the school. A person in a wheelchair can wheel into it, be secured, and then sway back and forth.

Melberg came up with the idea for the swing as a tribute because she used to push Christopher on an indoor swing that he could crawl onto, she said.

“He loved the feeling of swinging and feeling free,” Melberg said.

The swing cost $2,000, and staff at both Comprehensive Grammar School and Marsh Grammar School raised the money by having days when they wore jeans to work in exchange for donations, said Comprehensive Grammar School Principal Brandi Kwong.

Comprehensive Grammar School has four students in wheelchairs who can now enjoy the swing, Kwong said.

Students remembered Christopher for his smile and sense of humor.

One of the first things he did when he got his new communication device was figure out how to use it to play video games. He zipped around school in his powered wheelchair, they said.

“Just saying his name makes me smile,” said former classmate Hajar Laraki.

Christopher’s father cried while talking about his son. Joining him was Christopher’s mother, Marisol, brother, Cesar, and sister, Claudette. Several of Christopher’s classmates, boys, and girls alike, cried and hugged after the ceremony.

“He left a footprint on this school,” Kwong said. “He was one of the happiest kids.”

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