FRANSIE (#80): Linda and I were reading the paper on a Saturday morning in 1981, when I saw an AP article that stunned me! Fransie Geringer, an 8 year old boy in South Africa was dying of old age. He didn’t go to school because the kids made fun of him. The highlight of his day was when his brother, Paul, came home from school, put Fransie on his shoulders, and carried him around the yard.
Fransie was suffering from Progeria, an extremely rare genetic disease, that effects as few as 1 in 8 million people. The life expectancy is about 13 years, and the children usually die from stroke or heart attack after suffering all the ailments of the elderly.
Fransie thought there was no other kid in the world that looked like him. His dream was to meet Pinocchio. I could see why. It must have been some comfort to him to know that he looked a bit like someone else, even if it was a wooden puppet that wanted to a “real boy”. It broke my heart. I was going to make sure he met Pinocchio.
When I quit crying (as I am now while writing this) and could talk, I told Linda the story and showed her Fransie’s picture. She was a Marketing Officer for Landmark Union Trust Bank. I asked how much she could donate from her budget without prior approval and she said, “$100”. I was President of the Sunshine City Jaycees, and I was sure they would commit to $100. We would donate $100. I talked to a few friends.
When I got to the office Monday morning, the first thing I did was call the AP and ask for Cynthia Stevens, the AP reporter who had written the story. I was told that Cynthia was in South Africa on assignment. I left a message that I had already raised $500, and wanted to bring Fransie and his family to Florida so Fransie could meet Pinocchio.
Cynthia called me back later that morning. We hit it off right away. She confided that she had written the article in hopes that someone would arrange for Fransie to meet Pinocchio, “He is such a sweet little boy, and it would mean the world to him.” I promised I would make it happen and we agreed to talk again soon.
I must have been Cynthia’s first call that morning. She began to get calls from around the world. She gave everyone my number and told them, “Call Scott Simmons in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is arranging everything.” As usual, when I start a new and different project, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
One thing Wittner was good about, was that along as I got my work done, I could devote some office hours to projects like this. Now my phone began to ring. First problem, there was no Pinocchio at Disneyworld in Orlando, only at Disneyland in California. I’d worry about that once I opened a bank account and started depositing checks.
Then I got a call from Bill Sample, a police officer in Philadelphia. Bill had started the Sunshine Foundation, to help make the last wish of chronically ill children come true. Bill could bring Fransie to California to meet Pinocchio at Disneyland. Bill’s experience was invaluable, and I learned a lot from him. I was still hoping I could get Disneyworld to come through with Pinocchio for Fransie to meet, and they did.
So it was decided that the Geringer family would first come to St. Petersburg, then Orlando to meet Pinocchio, then to California to meet Pinocchio again. With all of the publicity, another little boy with progeria, Mickey Hayes from Texas, found out that he was not alone. Bill Sample arranged for Mickey to come to Disneyland to meet Fransie and Pinocchio.
The Geringer family flew into Tampa and spent three nights in St. Petersburg at the Hilton Inn on St. Pete Beach. We met them at the airport with a gift for Fransie and Paul of an electric slot car race track set. When they arrived, it was early evening and on the way to the hotel we stopped at my parents house for sandwiches and snacks.
My Mom had made red t-shirts made for the family that said: FRANSIE; FRANSIE’S BROTHER; FRANSIE’S MOM; and FRANSIE’S DAD. The only thing that was perfect was that she could find a Pinocchio patch for Fransie’s t-shirt. She had to settle for Donald Duck. Even though his parents were exhausted from the long flight, Fransie wanted to play with the race cars. So, while his parents rested in comfortable recliners, Fransie, Paul, and I set up the slot car track and Fransie and Paul raced slot cars until 11:00.
Before they left, Fransie climbed in my lap and said thank you. He told me, “I am famous now!” He was getting more mail than any mail than anyone else in South Africa. “I want to help other kids.” Cynthia Stevens was right, what a sweet soul. I told him I had an idea we would talk about.
The next morning the Geringer family came to City Hall to meet with Mayor Corinne Freeman. She had a gifts of a Pinocchio figurine for Fransie, a Pelican for Paul, and made Fransie and Paul Honorary Citizens of St. Petersburg. I couldn’t have been any prouder of our Mayor.
I went back to work, and my Mother took the family to the St. Petersburg Yacht Club for lunch. They waited in the lounge for their table and had soft drinks. Fransie’s jacket was too big for him, so his Dad put it over the back of his chair. There were snacks of peanuts and goldfish crackers on the take. Mom always laughed and said that when Fransie got up and grabbed his jacket, a few goldfish crackers fell out of his stuffed pocket. My mom took the rest of the bowl and helped Fransie put them in his other coat pocket.
The next day, Capt. Sonny Aylesworth and Capt. Van Hubbard took the family fishing. According to an article, “Fransie’s Fish Trip Nets a Haul”, Fransie didn’t have much luck. He seem to like to watch while, “his brother Paul and parents Herman and Magda scored heavily with spotted sea trout and flounder. The articles also says, “A few days later, Luke Melton took the Geringer for a sail on Tampa Bay.” I don’t recall the sail on the Bay, but this was during the week and I was working.
When the family left St. Petersburg, Bill Sample took over. He had made all of the arrangements in Orlando at Disneyworld, and in California at Disneyland. For Fransie, the biggest thrill of the entire trip was meeting Mickey Hayes at Disneyland.
The boys enjoyed learning that they are not alone in the world. “Fransie can’t believe Mickey looks the same,” said Fransie’s Dad. “He said now he knows he’s not ugly. He thinks they look very smart.” Mickey’s mother said, “Mickey can’t keep his hands off Fransie. I don’t think he can believe he’s real. I don’t think they’ve been separated five minutes. To watch them play, you’d think they’d known each other for years.” An 11 year old girl with progeria, Alicia Gowens, also joined Mickey and Fransie at Disneyland.
This get together, arranged by Bill Sample, was the start of something special. While Jay Fleece, Gary Davis, Joel Momberg, and others were helping me get our Sunshine Fund off the ground, Sample began a reunion for these special children in 1982 and kept it going. That first meeting gave rise to an annual progeria reunion, which brought children with the disease together from all over the world.
“For one week, they get a chance to be with others like themselves, to just feel normal,” said Bill Sample, founder and president of Sunshine Foundation. “That’s a powerful thing. But most importantly, it gives them something to look forward to the next year.”
In 1987, fifteen-year-old Mickey Hayes appeared along with jack Elam in the documentary “I Am Not a Freak.” Elam and Mickey first met during the filming of the 1986 film “The Aurora Encounter” in which Mickey was cast as an alien.
In 1989, Fransie Geringer, then 16, attended his last annual reunion of victims of progeria. ″I get to my see my friends,″ said Fransie, who had suffered a series of heart attacks and had to drop out of school. ″It may be the last time.″ Fransie died later that year of a heart attack.
Mickey Hays, 17, was also at the reunion and said he’s a ″tough little Texan″ who’s like anyone else. ″There’s nothing wrong with me,″ said Mickey. ″I do what I like, fishing, working on a race car with my friend. I left school in the eighth grade. Don’t need it.″ Mickey died at age 20, also of a heart attack.
I met Cynthia Stevens late in 1981, when she came to write a story about what made St. Petersburg so special. Why had the town opened its heart to Fransie and his family? The story was never published. Her editor said there was too much of Scott Simmons behind it, and the story wasn’t supposed to be about me. I understood, the real story then was Bill Sample. If she were writing the story today, it would be about Cynthia Lake Farrell.
