Michele Willer-Allred

Special to The Star

Six-year-old Hazel Hammersley has experienced more in her young life than any child should.

When she was 2, the Simi Valley girl was diagnosed with high-risk stage 3 neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that forms in nerve tissue, and underwent extensive treatment at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

After being in remission for more than two years, Hazel relapsed in August and has since begun a new, grueling treatment.

Through all of this, the spunky little girl with the big smile often thinks about the other children she has befriended at the hospital over the years.

“There’s a lot more kids with cancer,” Hazel said. “I feel bad about them.”

Hazel and her four siblings have made it a point to take part in fundraising events that help youngsters who are battling life-threatening illnesses. The Hammersleys have also helped organize many blood drives, but right now they're relying on the community to help as Hazel goes through her new treatment.

The community is stepping up, with two blood drives slated for this month alone. One is Feb. 15 in the Big Springs School parking lot. The other is Feb. 16 at Coco Beach Tanning Salon on Los Angeles Avenue, where there will also be raffle prizes, a silent auction and craft vendors. Donors are asked to bring a new, unwrapped gift for children at the hospital.

Hazel’s mom, Lauren, stressed the importance of giving blood.

“One person’s blood donation can be given to three children. So, that’s three lives you save in an afternoon,” she said. “You definitely notice the change when Hazel gets blood. It perks her up. You can tell.”

It was April 21, 2013, when Hazel was first diagnosed with a neuroblastoma tumor in her abdomen.

Lauren Hammersley keeps a blog at www.ourlittlehazelnut.blogspot.com that details her daughter’s progress. She has chronicled Hazel's chemotherapy, radiation, stem cell transplant, bone marrow biopsies, immunotherapy treatments, CT scans and bone tests.

Hazel made national news in 2013 when her mother playfully posted a sign in the window of the hospital room that read “Send Pizza,” and pizza deliveries came flooding in.

Lauren Hammersley said Hazel’s relapse has been especially difficult given that the family had a time of “relative normalcy” during her remission.

“It’s been a challenge," she said. "It’s a big toll on the whole family. It’s been hard.”

Hazel began her new targeted therapy treatment in November. She receives different chemotherapies for five days in a row, every three weeks. Progress scans will take place at the end of February.

“After this upcoming round, she will repeat her scans to see if this treatment and all of the integrative therapies we do at home continue to shrink these tumors,” Lauren Hammersley wrote in her blog, which she hopes to turn into a book.

Hazel recently celebrated her sixth birthday at Disneyland with her family. The day after, she visited Wendy King, the owner of Coco Beach Tanning Salon.

King, who taught children with special needs before she retired, said it was fate that she met the family. Hazel’s grandmother, Linda Skinner, came into the salon on a day King wasn’t originally scheduled to work.

“She was telling me Hazel’s story, and from there I was hooked,” said King, who regularly donates auction items and sells gift items to raise funds for Hazel and other children at the hospital.

Lauren Hammersley said her family is grateful for people like King and others in the community who have been so supportive.

“Just knowing that people care enough just makes us feel like we’re not alone," she said. "It’s so easy to feel isolated when going through something like this,”

Lauren Hammersley said she is also appreciative of those who give blood, noting that her daughter wouldn’t be alive without the 100 different transfusions she has received.

“The fact that over 100 different strangers donated their time to save my daughter and other children is really hard to believe," she said. "At the hospital, it’s called the gift of life, and it’s true,”

Hazel doesn’t need to be reminded of that. When her mom asks how it makes her feel knowing people gave her blood, the little girl reacts with that big smile.

“Happy,” she says. “It makes me feel special.”

If you go

What: Blood drive

When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 15

Where: Big Springs School parking lot, 3401 Big Springs Ave., Simi Valley

Register: http://bit.ly/2kjTmGr

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What: Blood drive

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 16

Where: Coco Beach Tanning Salon, 1720 Los Angeles Ave., Suite 1, Simi Valley

Information: 520-7800

Register: http://bit.ly/2jV456p