El Salvadorean Orphan Comes into Luck After Tragedy

Juan Manuel Pineda has been through so much trauma it could make you cry just thinking about it. But thanks to some generous strangers, his luck has turned for the better, and he recently achieved his dream of performing in a rock show onstage.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on November 11 2009

Juan Manuel Pineda. Image: “The Sound of Gratitude”

For Juan Manuel Pineda, it was a long journey to the stage of Chicago’s Green Dolphin Street club, where he held his first live solo performance on October 15th to roaring applause.

His saga began in El Salvador, where he was born with a cleft palate, barely able to speak. His luck only got worse from there: at age 2, his family’s home burned down. While Pineda was rescued in time, he was left with third degree burns on much of his body, and his legs needed to be amputated. His mother died when he was 8, and he spent years on the streets before being taken in by an orphanage, Our Little Brothers and Sisters.

Finally, at the orphanage, Pineda began to receive support and encouragement. He taught himself to play guitar, finding solace in the songs of Aerosmith and other rock bands. He began to perform with other musicians from his orphanage, and held a series of fundraising concerts to draw attention to their cause. One such event brought the group to Chicago, where Pineda, then 18, caught the attention of audience members, who wondered what they could do to help him.

Quite a bit, as it turned out: Shriners Hospitals offered him free medical care, with two top surgeons providing their own services on a volunteer basis. A charity group called the Mulliganeers agreed to foot the bill for Pineda’s flights to and from El Salvador.

While recuperating in the hospital, Pineda picked up his guitar, and in the three years since the start of his ongoing medical treatment, he’s barely put it down. He began writing music, and wondered if he might be able to record his own album. Soon, a recording studio offered to donate time in the studio, and with help from producer Nick Vitogiannes, Pineda’s debut effort, “The Sound of Gratitude”, was born.

So, on October 15th, Pineda went onstage at a Chicago club to play his new songs to strangers, and to the friends who had helped him come so far.

Reflecting on his experiences before the show, Pineda was amazed that he had come into such good fortune, after enduring so many years of hardship.

“We have a saying in El Salvador, ‘Suffer first, then enjoy.’ I guess that’s what’s happening,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, General Interest, Heroes,

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