Family uses Internet to relay updates on girl in therapy

STAFF REPORT

GIRARD — Laurie and James Harley of Girard, parents of 8-year-old Annie, who experienced a spontaneous brain bleed May 29 and is now in therapy, have communicated with and updated family, friends and the community via the Internet.

Annie had brain surgery at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh on May 30 and was hospitalized until June 18.

This information was inadvertently omitted from a story that was published Tuesday: Laurie Harley created a group on Facebook “to send just one update and reach anyone who wanted to know more about how Annie was doing.” She said some 200 people are now involved. Visit http://groups.to/supportannie.

Annie drew a picture of a cat looking at a fishbowl, and Laurie Harley’s sister-in-law, Kathy Esposito, is selling it online at Kathys-Cards.com. Proceeds from Annie’s card sales and 10 percent of overall card sales benefit the Harley family. Her father, James Harley, is a manager at Cocca’s Pizza in Liberty, and Laurie Harley is a freelance writer and chief executive officer of Aardvark Writing, a writing and design company.

In an e-mail that Laurie Harley sent to The Vindicator about her daughter’s experience, she wrote: “This has been a very draining experience, mentally, physically and financially. We could not have managed without the help and support of so many people.”

She also noted that family and friends were very supportive, including her sister, Christine Crosby, and neighbor, Amanda Magee, who baby-sat the younger Harley children.