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2002: The Year in Review
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 29, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Michelle Haigh, the teenager who had nursed her mother for several years with help from her grandmother, lost both women within two weeks of each other this fall.
Melanie Haigh, 47, and Fran Kennedy, 77, were admitted to the Shore Acres Nursing home in August and shared the same room. Mrs. Kennedy died of cancer on Oct. 19. Ms. Haigh suffered from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a progressive nerve disorder, along with diabetes and heart disease. She died on Nov. 2.
"I lost the two people I loved the most and who were my biggest supporters," said Michelle, 18, a senior at Lakewood High School. "Those were my two partners in crime. It was me and mom and mom and grandma. We just kept each other going."
In 12 years, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease deprived Ms. Haigh of the use of her legs. She also suffered a heart attack and endured dialysis treatments. But she continued to work as a paraprofessional at Skyview Elementary School in Pinellas Park. Michelle's grandmother drove Ms. Haigh to work when she became too weak. When Michelle's mother could no longer work, the grandmother took over the nursing while the teenager was in school.
Her mother's disorder is hereditary and there is no cure. Michelle said she is afraid.
"More than you can believe," she said.
The high school senior now lives with her uncle, Randal Kennedy, his wife, Denise, son Courtney and daughter Caitlin.
"They've been a huge help to me. They've been parents and friends and support," said Michelle, who has a job at Toys "R" Us.
Randal Kennedy said his niece is bearing up well.
"She has times that she breaks down. She practiced a poem and read it at the service. She got through it. It was about daughters loving their mothers," he said.
Dec. 13, the day her mother would have turned 48, "was not a good day," she said.
"I am happy that she's not suffering ... She wanted me to just go on and do the stuff that I needed to do. She wanted me to graduate," said Michelle, who wants to become a nurse.