MASON, Mich. — LeAnna and Aaron Titus had a daughter, Finnley, in June.
Before Finnley was born, however, doctors discovered a mass in her liver. In September, she was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer. Doctors told the Gregory couple that the chances of this diagnosis are "one in a million."
But, it didn't stop there.
"We thought them telling us she had cancer would be the worst part of it," LeAnna said.
Finnley had surgery to remove the tumor in her liver, but she then suffered from a stroke brought on by a blood clot on the couple's one-year anniversary. Now, she is undergoing chemotherapy.
"That all has been going good, so far," Aaron Titus said. "She hasn't been super sick and she still has her hair, so, that's promising. Then, in three weeks, we go back for the second round and final round."
LeAnna's friends since middle school, Katie Leftridge and Kendra Gailey, are getting creative to help the family cover the cost of the medical bills. Gailey, owner of Red's Hair Studio in Leslie, opened her doors Sunday to host a fundraiser for the Titus family called, "Cuts for a Cause."
"All of the stylists donated their time and talents to come and do this for us," Gailey said. "Some of them have personal connections with LeAnna and some of them are just here to be kind."
The minimum donation for a haircut was $20, though Gailey said most of the people who came through donated more.
"Our goal was $1,000 and we hit that in the first hour and 15 minutes," Gailey said.
By the end of the four-hour event, they had raised $2,179.
"There was a line out the door before we even started," Gailey said.
Leftridge estimated that the stylists gave roughly 60 haircuts, but some people came in just to donate.
"We've been almost in tears all day," Gailey said.
Leftridge is hosting another fundraising event on Oct. 23.
"It's going to be at the American Legion in Stockbridge," Leftridge said. "We're doing a dinner and we're auctioning off tons of stuff there, too."
LeAnna and Aaron said the support they have received has been overwhelming.
"I've cried a lot over just the support," Aaron said.
"There's like no way that we would've been able to do it by ourselves," LeAnna said.
Leftridge has also created a GoFundMe that has raised more than $14,000 so far.
If you'd like to donate, click here.
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