Hailey Gilmore turned two years old barely two months ago and according to her maternal grandparents, Joe and Ellen Reagin, was a bubbly little girl that was full of smiles when she was happy and would hold her breath until she turned blue when she was not.

Joe Reagin, a volunteer firefighter at Pine Grove Volunteer Fire Department and a member of the Red Knights MC MS 4, says, “She started getting twitches in her leg and we knew something wasn’t right.”

A trip to Ochsner Clinic in Slidell which was immediately followed by a trip to Ochsner in New Orleans confirmed the Dr.’s fears that little Hailey has Stage 2 Astrocytoma.

According to www.astrocytoma.org, an astrocytoma is a form of glioma tumor which originates in the astrocytes (star-shaped cells in the brain).

Reagin says, “She has been going through chemotherapy and has begun to lose her hair. It has been really hard on the adults— the parents and the grandparents. She is just as happy go lucky as can be unless she is feeling sick from the chemotherapy.”

“They have her scheduled for an 18 month span of chemotherapy treatments with her rest time in between treatments included. My son-in-law has had to take a leave of absence from his job and my daughter is a stay- at- home mom. There has been a huge strain on them in every way that can be strained and the financial pressure is immense.”

Ellen Reagin, who works for Dr. Riser’s office, says, “We decided to do a Benefit for them to help ease the medical bills. On Sunday, October 10, we are serving $10 Spaghetti Dinners at The Italian Grill from noon to 3 p.m. and are also having a Police and Fire escorted ride for $15 per bike at KSU at 2 p.m. with registration time beginning at 12:30 p.m. There will be a 50/50 drawing, door prizes and a raffle.”

The Reagins invite the community to come out and support little Hailey and believe that you will have a good time while you do a good deed.

For more information call Mike at 601-347-9216 or Corey at 601-273-1871.