http://www.wsmv.com/story/26806218/plastic-surgeon-gives-11-year-old-new-lease-on-life
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
Cokie Allen was burned, crippled and abandoned at a Chinese hospital, all before her first birthday. Doctors didn't think she would survive, let alone walk again.
"Her ankle had been burnt so bad that it was twisted. She was crippled," said Sandra Allen, Cokie's mother. "She's had like eight surgeries on her head."
Cokie survived, but the scars have been a constant reminder of that horrific time. Now, thanks to a Nashville plastic surgeon, the 11-year-old's life is about to change.
"It's shocking to me, because I can now do more stuff with my hair without trying to hide it," Cokie said.
Channel 4 first met Cokie in February in Dr. Jack Fisher's office. Her adoptive parents drove five hours from Indianapolis to Nashville so the plastic surgeon could replace some of the hair she'd lost as a result of the fire and numerous skin grafts.
The family was back Thursday for the second in a series of hair transplants.
"This is an area that had no hair in February," Fisher said. "It's grown extremely well very rapidly. So today, what we're going to do is transplant even more hair to thicken it up."
Cokie underwent a tedious, four-hour process of threading her hair into follicles, then transplanting them into her scalp.
Fisher and his staff did it all free of charge.
"Why do we do this? Because it gives us joy," Fisher said. "It's very rewarding to do something like this."
"What he's doing is amazing because we've never had anybody to be so generous as him and his staff have been," Sandra Allen said. "It's a big load off our mind to know that she gets to live a more normal life."
Fisher expects the follicles to take root in about eight months, and Cokie can't wait.
"He's changed my life," she said. "I used to have to take an hour on my hair, but now I don't take a lot of time on my hair anymore. And I can do different things now."
"Dr. Fisher was definitely an answer to prayer," Sandra Allen said.
Cokie still has some scars Fisher said he can't cover. She will need a few more transplants to complete the process, but once she does, Fisher said Cokie will have a full, thick head of hair she can comb any way she wants.
