Shannon Buchholz was in the middle of a pedicure in mid-December at the Cove Salon in Aventura, her feet in the water and her hands on The Miami Herald. Her eyes were glued to a Wish Book story detailing the story of Cristina Duverge, a plucky 30-year-old Sunrise woman who had battled multiple sclerosis since a diagnosis in 2005 altered her life. Buchholz’s husband, Harvey, has had multiple sclerosis for 49 years.

Duverge was working as a child-literacy field researcher for the University of North Carolina and the University of Chicago until 2008 when she lost her mobility and temporarily lost her sight to the disorder, which attacks the nervous system.

“I used to be a driver. I drove everywhere. In 2008 my body said, ‘That’s it, you’re not going to be doing anything else,’ ” she recalled.

Her mother, Ophelia Margarita Alonzo, quit her job as a home health attendant to care for her daughter.

By 2011, however, Duverge was a student at Broward College studying criminal justice and sociology. Her sight returned, as had much of her mobility though she still needed crutches to walk. Driving, however, was a no-go. Her legs were too weak to press the pedals. A hand-held automobile control device, at about $1,250, would allow Duverge the ability to drive, but the cost was prohibitive.

Buchholz knew what she had to do. With her feet marinating in the salon broth, she rang Bob Desmaris, her contact at AutoMobility, a company that manufactures parts to make vehicles handicapped-accessible, and within minutes the two had a solution.

“Before the sentence was done, we were finished,” Buchholz said.

By the new year, Duverge was back behind the wheel of her 2005 Ford Escape.

“I was getting an angel sent to me via Wish Book,” she said.

Herald Charities, which manages Wish Book, heard from many “angels” this year. The nonprofit received more than $325,000 in cash donations and in-kind donations topped $100,0000.

“The 2011 Wish Book Program was a huge success with an overwhelming response from our readers,” said Wish Book coordinator Roberta DiPietro. “Funds raised surpassed last year, amazing in the light of the current economic situation. The 40-plus nominees that were featured in the paper had their wishes granted — or they are in the process.

“The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald readers’ generosity was evidenced through the donations of new and gently used furniture, appliances, medical equipment, bicycles, toys, electronics and professional services, exceeding last year’s donation of goods by more than 30 percent. More than 700 of the neediest in our community have been helped and many more will still benefit from the readers’ efforts.”

Reporters from The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and the University of Miami News Service profiled more than 40 individuals and families — the most ever in a program spanning three decades.

The stories recounted physical, economic and emotional hardships.

Readers met Angelyn Gutierrez, 9, a bright West Kendall girl with cerebral palsy whose struggling family needed help with a mobility van to get her to appointments. Anthony Marchante, a 4-year-old Hialeah boy with cerebral palsy who needed a special, but pricey, tricycle to continue therapy at home. Two donors came through after his story ran in mid December.