Six-year-old gives big part of herself to help kids
Published: December 10, 2007
Six-year-old Haylea Starr Knight of Reidsville is giving a special gift to a child this Christmas season ? her hair.
Knight has had open heart surgery twice. She knows what it’s like to have help from others, and she wants to help other children who are in poor health.
Knight wrote to Locks of Love, and she also sent 13 inches of her silky blonde hair.
“This year for the holidays I wanted to do something for a kid who has cancer,” Knight writes in her letter. “When I was in the hospital having surgery to fix my heart, my nurse told me about Locks of Love, since my hair was long. I told my mom I wanted to get my hair cut to make a wig for a kid that has cancer. So I had a haircut and we are sending my ponytail to them, so a kid can smile with hair for the holidays.”
Pamela McKinney Capps, Knight’s neighbor and a hairdresser at Hair Reflections on N.C. 65, cut Knight’s hair.
“I was shocked when Haylea asked me to cut all her hair off,” said Capps. She said the neighborhood children gathered in the yard to see Knight after her hair was cut. Capps’ 7-year-old son, Christian, and 8-year-old nephew, Kyler Whicker, were upset when they saw that Knight’s long locks had been removed.
“They had their hands on their hips and asked, ‘Why did you cut off all of Haylea’s hair?’” said Capps.
Knight’s open heart surgery in July prevented her from doing the things she enjoys the most. But she quickly rebounded and is jumping around, having fun once again.
Knight’s grandmother, Starr Tuttle, calls her “a bottle of energy.”
“You would never know this child had heart surgery. She’s wide open,” said Tuttle.
“It’s just by chance that they found her heart condition because she was very healthy.”
In August 2006, Tuttle took Knight for her 5-year-old checkup, and the doctor discovered the problem. He referred her to a cardiologist, who determined Knight had an anomalous left coronary artery. The condition occurs when the left coronary artery comes out of the pulmonary artery, instead of its usual site of origin, the aorta.
“It’s very serious and very rare,” said Tuttle. “One in every 300,000 children are born with it. They usually catch it before they are 2 years old.”
Tuttle said Knight has again started growing her hair for Locks of Love. She has even persuaded some of her friends to donate their hair.
Capps said more and more children are donating their hair to Locks of Love because awareness is spreading. She said hair donated to Locks of Love must be at least 10 inches long and must not be dyed or permed.
Knight says she doesn’t miss her long hair.
“I like having short hair. It’s easy to brush,” she said.
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