TV actress to help raise funds for Lakewood Ranch preteen

MANATEE — Eleven-year-old Rachael Jaworski has a friend in Maggie Wheeler.

Wheeler, best known as the nasally Janice Litman from the hit TV show “Friends,” will be the featured guest during “A Conversation with a ‘Friend’” at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Held at Braden River High School, the event will help raise funds for Jaworski’s recovery from ruptured AVMs — arterial venous malformations — in her brain. The rare condition, which left the Lakewood Ranch preteen with memory loss, occurs when a group of veins and arteries tangle and then rupture.

“She has no memory — hour by hour, day by day,” said Rachael’s mom, Wendy, 48.

Rachael has struggled with the condition, which came out of nowhere, since last December. She has spent four months in hospitals, dealing with feeding tubes, facial paralysis and speech and physical therapy, said her mom. Now back at home and improving, she still has more recovery hurdles to get through.

But her family is thankful Rachael’s come this far.

The community has stepped up in various ways — including hosting a series of fundraisers — to help with mounting medical expenses. Though insurance has covered much of the more than $1 million in medical care, healthcare costs have still been high. “It’s not that we are calling people saying ‘Help, we need money,’ ” Wendy Jaworski said. “People out of the goodness of their hearts are reaching out.”

That’s how Wheeler came into the picture. When local resident Maureen Flaherty heard about the Jaworski family’s battle to get their daughter back to normal, she called her longtime friend Wheeler.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Wheeler said last week during a phone interview from her Los Angeles home. “I hope lots of people come out. The Jaworskis can use tremendous support. So I’m excited to gather the community to that end.”

The event will feature film and TV highlights from Wheeler’s career, a Q&A with the audience and music. Proceeds will be split between the Jaworski family, Wheeler and Little Bookworms — a store in Lakewood Ranch selling tickets for the event.

Wheeler has been featured in guest spots on a host of TV shows including “How I Met Your Mother,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Ellen” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” But she struck comic gold playing Chandler’s girlfriend on “Friends.” The role, made famous by Wheeler’s trademark “Oh! My! Gaaad!” outburst and laugh, was meant for one episode. But the producers and crew loved her in the role so much that they brought her back for nearly 20 episodes.

“It was all around a fantastic experience,” said Wheeler, whose voice has been featured on a number of cartoons, including the series “Lilo & Stitch.” “They were great people to work with, an amazing collaborative work environment, the energy in that cast was the kind of magic that doesn’t come around that often. It was a great high to get the phone call that Janice was going to return.”