A Sister's Love: Guilford Teen Inspired by Tragedy to Help Others

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

GUILFORD, CT – Sue Kruczek has received a lot of attention as a front person in the fight against the opioid epidemic plaguing the state since her son, Nick, died at age 20 in 2013 from a drug overdose.

But she isn’t the only Kruczek that has suffered from the painful loss of a family member. And she’s not the only trying to make some good come out the terrible tragedy.

Nick’s 13-year-old sister, Haley, is a 7th grade student at Adams Middle School.

Haley recently had 14 inches off her long blonde hair cut off and donated to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term hair loss due to medical conditions.

Here’s what Haley had to say about why she did what she did:

“Since my family and I had received so much help and support, I wish to donate to someone else who needs help. I decided to help two years ago; ever since then I had been growing out my hair. I did this to donate my hair to a girl somewhere in the world who lost her hair due to cancer or other medical issues.

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“I can only imagine if I lost all my hair, I would be devastated and it would really affect my confidence. So, I wish to help give someone hope and confidence, as I would want someone to do for me. It would be really cool to be able to think I’m making such a difference in and individual’s life and can help them for the better.”

-- Haley Kruczek

See related: Guilford Mom Pens Heartbreaking Note About Losing Her Son to Drug Overdose