By Ashley McCleery

The North Jefferson News



Holding her dirty blonde ponytail in her hand, 14-year-old Haley Harris couldn’t belief how much hair she could give to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides wigs to financially disadvantaged children who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

“I was shocked seeing it in the bag. I kept looking at it to see how much was cut off,” Haley said.

Actually, Haley still couldn’t believe she had hair to give. Underneath her now chin-length hair is a scar spanning across her scalp, which acts as a daily reminder that she is alive only by God’s grace.

At 13 months old, Haley faced death. Even though she doesn’t remember the details, the event has influenced her decisions and changed her outlook on life.

On March 15, 1994, her mother, Tammy Harris, tried to awaken Haley from her nap, but she began convulsing with seizures. In a panic, Tammy rushed her lifeless baby to the emergency room where a doctor ran a Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) scan on Haley. The scan displayed Tammy’s worst fear — a brain tumor.

“People were rushing around and yelling code blue, while I was shocked and hysterical,” Tammy said.

After the doctors performed an emergency surgery, placing two tubes in Haley’s head to drain the fluid running down her brain, they stabilized her and placed her in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). But, the doctors didn’t know if Haley would make it through the night.

While church members covered the NICU in prayer, Haley gained enough strength to have brain surgery two days later, allowing the doctors to remove the brain tumor. “They cut her brain in half, got the brain tumor and then put it back together,” Tammy said.

Thankfully, the tumor was benign. But the doctors said the fluid from the tumor could have killed her if Tammy would have waited any longer to bring her to the hospital. And until Haley started school, they thought she could have brain damage.

However, Haley is now in honors classes at Gardendale High School with no more than a scar as evidence of her brain tumor. After five years of CAT scans, the doctors released her with confidence that the tumor would not return.

Now, Haley lives her life giving thanks for God’s protection and seeking out opportunities to help others, which is why she cut her hair for Locks of Love last week. “I’ve been blessed with hair after God saved me. I’d love to make people smile with the hair God blessed me with,” Haley said.

Even though Haley’s heart was pounding as the hairdresser snipped the ponytail that reached her lower back, she wasn’t sad because she knew her hair would help a little girl feel pretty again.

“She’s like a little missionary in Gardendale,” Tammy said. “It is so Haley because she feels for those people. Even though she didn’t have to deal with losing hair, she knew it could have been her if things would have been different and she had to go through chemotherapy.”

In light of her near-death experience at such an early age, Haley is continually giving to others out of joy of being alive. “I’m not going to miss out on life,” Haley said. “I try to look for other people and reach out to anyone I can.”