Shaving heads in support

Residents of Ash Fork support seven-year-old with brain tumor

It was on a recent trip to Las Vegas where seven-year-old Ryan Hadley, who had been complaining about a headache for about a week, began to display a number of odd symptoms.

Hadley's mother, Ash Fork native Crystal Hadley, took him to the Boulder City Hospital upon finding her son disoriented after he had slept for more than 14 hours. There doctors found an unusual mass in the young boy's brain. After transferring to Las Vegas' Sunrise Hospital, doctors immediately concluded that Hadley had a brain tumor. The mass, identified later as the Medulloblastoma form of cancer, was removed quickly thereafter.

Though no further traces of cancer have been found since his operation, Hadley had to follow up with a little over 10 months of chemotherapy. His family moved into a Phoenix hotel in order to be closer to the Phoenix Children's Hospital, where Hadley is currently undergoing treatment. He has been taken out of school for a year as well due to doctor's orders and is being home schooled by his mother. Hadley is a schoolteacher in Chino Valley where her son attended classes.

Hadley was given the chance to meet NASCAR driver Tony Stewart Nov. 8, thanks to the help of a local charitable organization.

"He (Stewart) goes to one Home Depot for autographs and there's this organization down here called Hope Kids; they contacted somebody and got us in before the crowd," Crystal Hadley said. "It was pretty cool. He shook our hand and signed our stuff and took a picture with Ryan."

As of Nov. 7, Hadley had seven radiation treatments left. An MRI, scheduled for Dec. 10, will determine the treatment's effects. His first regular chemotherapy treatment is scheduled for Dec. 14. Following that overnight stay, Hadley will enter outpatient chemotherapy on a weekly basis.

"He, as of today, has one week of radiation and then we go home," Hadley said.

Ash Fork residents Heidi, Ron, Kyle and Travis Howard recently shaved their heads to show their support for the Hadley family. Heidi Howard, who once had long blonde hair, works as a dispatcher for the Williams Police Department. The family attended a shaving party in Chino Valley, in Ryan's honor, following a recent spaghetti dinner sponsored by Hadley's school to raise funds for the family. The fundraiser brought in roughly $11,000 to help offset medical bills for the family. An account has also been set up through Chase Bank under account no. 763746369 should anyone wish to help support the family.

"Ryan was losing his hair and I'd always told Ron that if any of my friends and my family had something happen with a kid, I would shave my head (in support)," she said, adding that, despite feeling ill from recent treatments, Ryan did manage a smile or two.

"He wasn't too happy. He was kind of cranky and not feeling too good. He smiled at me and he smiled when we all got our heads done," Howard said.

Howard said she was "devastated" when the family learned of Ryan's illness. The families have been friends for over eight years. Ron Howard and Ryan's father, Darrell Hadley, met on a construction job site.

"I never thought it would hit that close to home with any of my friends' kids. I was in complete shock," Howard said.

"It was just to support Ryan, to be there with him," Hadley said of their shaved heads. "His hair was falling off so it was time to go there with him. I think that any mother or father would do that for their kid. His will grow back after radiation, but then he'll begin losing it again after chemo."

The Hadley family can be reached through the Caring Bridge Web site at www.caringbridg.org/visit/ryanhadley or by writing them at 1898 Hazel Dr., Chino Valley, AZ 86323.