CHOC it up to the duffers

Andrew Edwards

A roster of golfers more than twice as large as the number of players

signed up for the upcoming U.S. Open competed Saturday in a

tournament with a $10,000 payout.

The competition wasn’t played out on the manicured fairways of a

swanky country club, but among the windmills and obstacles of a

Fountain Valley miniature golf course. And the purse wasn’t for any

of the 162 duffers, but for the doctors and patients at Childrens

Hospital of Orange County.

One of the patients, 10-year-old Alissa Head, has been fighting

cancer in her spinal cord since she was 6 years old.

Alissa’s friends and family not only support her fight for

wellness, but lend their aid to other ailing children as well.

Saturday’s tournament was the third time the Head family and Alissa’s

Angels, a group comprised of Alissa’s brother Nick and 11 members of

her Huntington Beach Girl Scout troop, joined forces to put together

a miniature golf contest as a fundraiser for the hospital.

Over the course of her battle, the Golden View Elementary School

student has undergone 13 operations, chemotherapy and radiation

treatment to combat the disease. After four years of struggle, her

family and doctor are encouraged she will show improvement in the

near future.

“We may make it a year without an operation,” neurosurgeon Michael

Muhonen said.

Alissa’s prospects of ultimately defeating her cancer are strong,

though she may forever be confined to a wheelchair.

“Her chance of restoring walking is low but not impossible,”

Muhonen said. “Her chance to live is good.”

So far, Alissa’s Angels have collected more than $130,000, $10,000 of which was made on Saturday. All the donations are for the

hospital’s neuroscience wing, Alissa’s father Drew Head saidThe

hospital has used the cash to buy an ultrasound machine that allows

doctors to get an inside look at baby’s brain without using a

radiation-emitting CAT scan.

“You don’t want to expose a developing brain to any radiation,”

Muhonen said.

Saturday morning was hot and sunny, perfect for outdoor play like

miniature golf. More than 160 people showed up to support the event,

but for many of the children in attendance, the more immediate

thought was getting their golf ball into the cup.

“I got a hole in one. Yay,” exclaimed 10-year-old Garrick Langer

after a perfect putt. After jumping up and down in celebration,

Garrick took pride in another accomplishment.

“I got to donate a dollar to charity,” he said.

Alissa was smiling and animated throughout the event, despite not

being able to play. Her friends say she is distinguished by her

positive attitude.

“She has a personality that’s different from everyone else,”

10-year-old Alissa Mowery said. “She’s pretty funny in some ways and

pretty excited in other ways.”

Alissa’s favorite activities include oil painting and riding a

special hand-pedaled bicycle with her friends.

“It’s like a beach cruiser but with three wheels,” Alissa said.

“Me and my friends, on Sundays, we go around the block on our bikes

and go to everybody’s house.”

Cancer doesn’t stop Alissa from enjoying the present, and it

doesn’t prevent her from dreaming about her future, when she hopes to

reach a unique career aspiration.

“I want to be a coroner,” Alissa said.

It’s true, her father said.

“For career day she dressed up as a coroner and went to school,”

Drew Head said. She wore a black outfit and hung a sign marked

“Coroner” on the back of her wheelchair.

In the meantime, Alissa’s family helps her make it to the future.

“You have kids, you raise your kids, you’re responsible for the

kid. You just deal with it, you love your kids,” Drew Head said. “No

use hiding from it.”