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A 12-year-old Owasso girl has lost her battle with Cystic Fibrosis. But, she dedicated her life to raising awareness of that disease and raising more than 120-thousand dollars for research.
Haley Palmer was born with the chronic condition that affects the lungs and digestive system. Family and friends say they plan to continue Haley's fight.
Haley was known as a fighter and the face of Cystic Fibrosis -- a little girl on a mission to find a cure for her disease.
"She's phenomenal," says Haley's cousin Nicole Moffett. "She's touched the entire community. You could probably ask anyone about CF and Haley and they'd be able to tell you."
The corner of 86th and Main in Owasso is now also known as Haley Central. The memorial on the fence at Owasso's 7th Grade Center grows by the day.
"It just shows you how much people loved Haley and how much we're going to miss her," adds her classmate, Sydney Hazelrigg.
The memorial draws a steady stream of friends and strangers.
"We thought 'we have to wear pink today'," says Patty Mierendorf, who recently moved to Owasso. "Show our support even though we don't know who she is."
14-year-old Stacey and 8-year-old Brenna are Haley's sisters.
"She likes soccer a lot and one thing I remember about her is she's always smiling and laughing, likes to laugh a lot," Stacey says.
"One of her sayings is 'footsteps in history aren't made sitting down'," adds Brenna. "That's kind of what she lived by in a way. Every time she had an opportunity to do something, she would."
Haley lived with the daily breathing treatments, medications and the knowledge that many with CF don't live past their 30s.
"I think it was probably hard for her," says Stacey. "But, she took it as a challenge."
"She never complained, no matter how much she was hurting," adds classmate Courtney Franklin. "None of us could really tell."
Haley left for St. Louis last month in hopes of getting a lung transplant. But, that's when her condition deteriorated.
"The hardest thing for me throughout this whole thing is she did want to be a mom and have a family," Nicole says. "And she wanted to carry on and just be a normal person."
But, even in grief, Haley's family pleads for everyone to fight on.
"There's thousands of kids with Cystic Fibrosis and she would never want us to stop waht we're doing."
Haley's funeral is planned for Thursday, a celebration of her life. Everyone is asked to wear pink, her favorite color.
For more information about Haley and her push to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, log on to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/haleypalmer.
God Bless the Palmer family.
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