By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
A local mother is raising money for a scholarship fund in her daughter’s name.
“She would have started at Wayne State this week,” said Cheryl Ferguson. Ferguson’s daughter Hana “Max” Ferguson passed away on Jan. 26, 2018 at the age of 18.
Hana was diagnosed with Chirai Malformation, which causes the brain tissue to extend into the spinal canal. At age 12, she had brain surgery, and a side effect of the surgery was severe migraines.
“She went through quite a lot, she was a fighter though,” said Cheryl. “We lived down in Louisiana during Katrina, her kindergarten teacher was shot, her best friend in first grade got killed, but you never saw her with anything but a smile on her face.”
Hana spent a lot of time volunteering at Royal Oak Beaumont and with the Children’s Miracle network, doing fundraisers for them and even speaking on their behalf to rooms of adults.
She graduated from the Oxford Virtual Academy, and the scholarship will go to a senior from the academy. Students from many different school districts attend, including Hana who had to do her schooling online when her migraines made it too difficult to attend class at a set time every day.
In addition to her brain surgeries, Hana had two back surgeries for her chronic scoliosis, had two kidney surgeries due to being born with one kidney and two surgeries for her fused spinal chord.
“Most people who knew her didn’t even know she was chronically ill,” said Cheryl. “When her grandmother was very ill, she’d get up in the middle of the night to help take care of grandma.”
Cheryl will be taking orders for memorial buttons and t-shirts as a fundraiser through the Facebook group ‘Hana “Max” Ferguson Memorial Page’. The t-shirts cost $20 and the pins cost $5. She will also accept donations for the scholarship through Facebook as well.
“She was determined to get her doctorate,” said Cheryl. “I want to help someone else reach that goal.”