Page 61 - The Exceptional Harley Fetterman

THE EXCEPTIONAL HARLEY FETTERMAN

sometimes he will poke me with his cane. He's just like any other guy
friend that I would know. It's just so much fun to hang out with him.”

With Harley's avid Braille reading skills and his outstanding high
school achievements, it was not surprising that by the time he was in
high school, he had his goals already set in stone. He dreamed of
attending Texas A&M University to study electrical engineering and
hoped to one day design products that help visually impaired people
use tactual display technology. He aspired to be part of the change he
wished to see in the world by giving Gandhi's famous phrase a new
meaning. “Seeing doesn't necessarily need to be done through one's
eyes.”

In March of 2014, Harley toured Texas A & M campus in Corpus
Christi in anticipation of making a choice on where he might decide
to go for college. He really enjoyed the tour even though he had
aspirations to go to the College Station campus. Several of Harley's
cousins live in Corpus Christi which would be a consideration.
October 23, 2014 marked five years since Harley had his final
brain surgery to successfully remove the tumor. However, it was now
a year since medical tests, including a bone marrow biopsy, had
revealed that Harley had developed Myelodysplastic Syndrome and
would eventually require a bone marrow transplant at some point in
the future. MDS is a rare disease of the blood, occurring in four out of
every one million children. The disease keeps the body from properly
producing blood cells and producing enough of them. The disease
develops in the bone marrow of the long bones that produce three
major blood cells. As time goes by, the abnormal cells slowly take
over normal cells until there is total bone marrow failure. This might
cause leukemia. The process of testing and securing a bone marrow
donor would take a long time. Harley would require frequent blood
tests to monitor his blood. He also suffered from severe nose bleeds,
received numerous blood transfusions, and developed compounding
health issues.

Even with medical issues, Harley never faltered his attention to
academics. By semester's end in December 2014, Harley's scholastic
skills proved him a diligent junior at Bowie High School. He got all
A's including two duel credit courses he took for US History.

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