Man With Cerebral Palsy Gets Dream Day at Lake Catholic

Brian Posey simply wanted to be a Lake Catholic High School student for a day. Instead, he received rock star-type treatment Friday during the Winter Sports Rally.

The crowd of students and administrators roared as Posey, a 22-year-old with cerebral palsy, pushed his wheelchair for a lap around the gymnasium. He waved at students in the crowd, beaming as he soaked in the moment when he made a gym full of new friends.

"I didn't think he'd come back," joked his mother, Brenda Houston, who watched the special moment off to the side.

When Posey wheeled back to the bottom of the bleachers, he had two words to describe what had just happened.

"It's great," he exclaimed after he was introduced as part of the rally.

Posey met a group of 10 Lake Catholic students around Thanksgiving when they traveled to the Lake County Board of DD/Deepwood Willoughby Workshop to volunteer at a Turkey Day event. Bob Fratino, manager at the Workshop and a 1983 Lake Catholic graduate, said the connections Posey made that day put the high school at the top of his wish list.

"The guys were really great to Brian, and he just forged an instant friendship with them," Fratino said. "After that, he came up to me a lot of times and said, 'I want to go to Lake Catholic, I want to go to Lake Catholic,' so it really worked out."

Posey attended classes with Patrick Cosgriff, one of the students who volunteered at Deepwood. Posey, his mother and Fratino attended the rally to close out the day.

"They treated him really nice," Houston said.