Community Corner

Help A Local Girl Get Her Christmas Wish

Arianna Barricelli, an 11-year-old St. Ephrem student, is a fabulous singer who is struggling with a tumor that affects her eyesight. And all she wants for Christmas is an iPhone 5.

 

There’s an 11-year-old girl in Bensalem who is battling an illness and looking for your help in getting a special Christmas gift.

If you listen to Arianna Barricelli sing, you’ll be able to tell right away that she has a sweet voice that belongs in a recording studio. What you won’t know is that the 6th grader at St. Ephrem School, also has a condition that has taken her sight in one eye.

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Patch reader Sal Barila, Arianna’s godfather, explained her condition.

“She is dealing with a (non-cancerous) tumor behind her eye that is causing her to have blindness in that eye,” he said. “She has been receiving chemotherapy every week for almost 10 months now and the diagnosis unfortunately does not look good that she will get her vision back.”

Find out what's happening in Bensalemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Despite her condition, the brave young girl is “always upbeat and tries to keep those around her upbeat,” Barila said.

One of the ways she stays cheerful and positive is through her singing.

“She has an amazing voice and loves to perform in front of anyone and everyone,” Barila said.

How can you help Arianna?

The local star-to-be has a video on Youtube of her singing “All I Want for Christmas” with her own special lyrics.

“Her wish for Christmas is to get her dad Luigi to buy her an iPhone 5 for Christmas,” Barila told Patch. “Her father said he would buy her the phone if she got 1,000 people to view her Youtube song.”

If you’d like to help Arianna, view her Youtube video and feel free to leave a positive comment below or on her Youtube page.

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