A New York City mother who had her daughter shaved by a doctor after she complained of pain in her face has now launched a campaign on Facebook to raise awareness about child haircut safety.
Nita and James Garety’s daughter, Chloe, is five and has been diagnosed with a condition called keratoconus, which causes swelling in the inner ear.
“I was worried that her hair might be too long, and she might have a difficult time getting her hair done,” Nita Garetty, the father of Chloe, told The Jerusalem Times.
“We had her hair cut by a pediatrician who did not want to cut it because he thought it might be painful.”
“When she was in the room with me, I told her it would look better if she had the haircut.
She looked at me with such disbelief that she said, ‘Mommy, I don’t want to go to the bathroom!'”
The Gareties decided to take Chloe’s hair home, and the mother took Chloe’s parents to see a doctor.
The doctor told them the swelling was caused by keratosis plasminogen activator, a protein found in keratin, a thin layer of protein that coats the inner lining of the hair follicle.
The Gares said their daughter’s hair was so long, that when they took it home, they had to cut out part of the middle.
They took Chloe out to the park and shaved her head, but she started bleeding.
The doctors told the Garetys that the swelling would stop when the hair was shaved, but Chloe had still been bleeding.
“When I took her out of the room, the doctor put a towel over her head and she was crying,” Nitey Gareteys told the Times.
Nitey and James, a licensed acupuncturist, said Chloe was bleeding profusely and vomiting after the hair salon.
Niteey said that Chloe was crying for a long time after being shaved, and when James said to his daughter, “Don’t worry, we’re going to cut her hair,” Chloe started crying even more.
“Then, the doctors said, you should cut the hair,” Niturey Gerety told the newspaper.
“Chloe started bleeding and was vomiting,” James Gerely said.
“It was terrible.
I felt awful.”
Chloe Garey’s parents took her to the hospital and were taken there by ambulance to a local emergency room, where she died.
Her father, Nita, told the news outlet that Chloe’s death was a tragedy for the entire family.
“We just don’t know what we’re missing,” Nitta Garets told the Associated Press.
“This is the hardest time of our lives.”
