Lebanon
Hazel, a 5½-year old cocker spaniel-Labrador mix, joined the Barber family as a puppy. She has become Julie’s emotional support animal since back pain last fall led to the diagnosis of a cancerous tumor inside the junior’s spinal cord.
That grade II astrocytoma necessitated surgeries and intensive rehabilitation for Barber, who was left paralyzed from the waist down. The Cornish resident now uses a wheelchair and returned to class late this winter, when she asked to be the student manager on a varsity lacrosse squad for which she had expected to play. Barber co-captained the junior varsity and was a late season call-up as a sophomore.
Coach Sara Ecker had slightly different duties in mind. Would Barber be willing to help coach, offering insights and peer feedback and shooting on the goaltenders? So that’s what transpired, although Barber had to sometimes miss practices and games for various reasons.
“I’m not sure what the spring would have looked like without lacrosse,” Julie’s mother, Kate Barber, said. “Some days, when I couldn’t get Julie to go to school and Hazel wasn’t doing the trick, lacrosse was what made the difference.
“Weekends were pretty much spent at home, and that’s what her after-school time would have been like, too. Sara and the team helped her forget for a little while that this is a crappy sort of situation.”
Barber was upbeat in early winter, after a stay at a Boston rehabilitation facility. Six months later, she’s not morose, but daily reality has set in. The 17-year-old has regained a bit of motion in her lower legs and sometimes experiences pain in the limbs, but no one is sure what that means for the future.
“We’re working on getting her to do things in the chair for however long she’s in it, even if it’s for the rest of her life,” Kate Barber said. “I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I also want to stay hopeful. You just never know: Six people could have the exact same spinal cord injury and some will walk and some won’t, and there’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
One thing’s for certain: Hazel is as gentle and sweet as can be. Her affection for Julie Barber and her protective instincts toward her are palpable, and not even friends are allowed between them. Ecker discovered this during halftime of a home game, when Barber used a nearby portable toilet. The coach went to hold Hazel back by her leash, only to be told with a small growl that the dog would be waiting directly outside the door, thank you very much.
“Hazel has had an incredible impact on Julie’s well-being,” Ecker said. “She’s created a balance for her that is so needed.”
Julie Barber is a quiet person by nature, and becoming something of a local celebrity because of her medical situation hasn’t been easy. Upon her return to school, she faced the emotional overload of hundreds of students and teachers seeking interaction. It was nice and awkward and embarrassing, all at once.
“Everyone was trying to be her friend, and that can make you feel even more left out,” said lacrosse teammate Lexie Roberts, who’s known Barber since they played youth-level ice hockey together.
Moving about classrooms and hallways and bathrooms was another challenge, and Barber was also behind on schoolwork. She and her senior boyfriend broke up during the lacrosse season and before prom. Co-captain Lily Hier and friend Sarah Montana became Barber’s “dates” for the dance, but as Kate Barber pointed out, her daughter was experiencing typical, stressful teenage events on top of her own life-changing illness.
“It’s hard for her not to bring everything back to her diagnosis,” the mother said. ” ‘If I hadn’t been paralyzed, this wouldn’t have happened.’ ”
It’s in such times that Hazel shines. She often lies on Julie’s bed, but when she senses that her friend is depressed, she will extend a paw for a physical touch. That same instinct also came into play during a difficult lacrosse season, when the young Raiders started 0-5 and their 5-9 final record was the worst in Ecker’s 23-year career. Players loved to pet or snuggle the pup during tough moments.
“She definitely made people feel better,” Julie Barber said. “She’s just really lovable, and she picks up on when someone was having a bad day and will go to them and let them pet her.”
A highlight of the season came when Barber, with Roberts and others taking turns pushing her wheelchair, played in a junior varsity scrimmage against a fledgling Windsor High program. The chance to throw, catch and shoot was thrilling, as was scoring a goal. Even Hazel could tell that her charge’s spirits had been boosted.
“I’ve never seen Julie so excited and so happy,” Roberts said.
Here’s to many more such days. But on those that don’t quite measure up, Hazel will be available, a constant, comforting presence.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.