Rare Illness Cuts Short a 14-Year-Old’s Dreams

Nothing made 14-year-old Chuckie Haney happier than the authentic, custom-tailored uniform--complete with holster, handcuffs and baton--given to him by the Monterey Park Police Department.

Next week, he’ll be buried in it.

“He’d put that uniform on and he’d just think there was nobody better,” his mother said Friday. “Being a cop gave him the chance, in his mind, to be able to help people. That’s when he was at his proudest . . . at his best.”

Touched Reagan

Chuckie, whose long battle with a rare neurological disease touched the hearts of Hollywood stars, former President Reagan and dozens of police officers, died Friday at his Azusa home.

He was one of about 1,000 people worldwide known to suffer from adrenoleukodystrophy, an incurable illness that attacks the brain and nervous system, said his parents, Barry and Susan Haney.

He was afflicted, too, with Tourette’s syndrome, a non-fatal genetic disorder characterized by bizarre twitches that had occasionally incited taunts from classmates and, his family said, contributed to their eviction from a San Dimas apartment.

But stories about Chuckie’s plight and his dreams of being a police officer had also inspired outpourings of sympathy over the years, attention that the plump-faced, brown-eyed boy clearly enjoyed attracting.

A duffel bag near the metal hospital bed in the Haneys’ living room, where he had spent the last month in a coma, contained some of his prizes. There was an autographed baseball from the California Angels, a football from the Chicago Bears, a wooden Easter egg from the White House lawn and police badges from around the country.

Actress Emma Samms of “Dynasty” had taken him ice skating. President Reagan had made him an honorary member of the Secret Service. And actor Michael Landon had given the family $2,000.

‘Such Spirit’

“He had such spirit and courage,” said Capt. Joe Santoro, one of the Monterey Park officers who had the uniform made for Chuckie. “He was really and truly a fighter. Everybody here admired him for that.”

Chuckie came to Southern California from Chicago in 1984 with his parents and two younger sisters to be near the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, one of the leading research centers for the two diseases he suffered from.

By 1986, however, the Haneys had been evicted from their San Dimas apartment on grounds that they had become a nuisance.

The family believed that Chuckie’s progressive deterioration--and the manager’s misunderstanding of the diseases--was a factor in their eviction.

The Haneys filed a $3-million suit alleging wrongful eviction, but agreed to an undisclosed cash settlement in 1987.

The money, which was deposited in a trust fund for Chuckie and his sisters, has never been released because none of the children has reached 18.

Until the last six months, Chuckie had been doing well keeping his illness at bay, thanks in part to the medication he took every day. He had an excellent vocabulary--”talked like a lawyer,” said his mother--and loved singing and recording Christmas songs, regardless of the season.

But his disease, which by last year had left him blind, did not relent. The deterioration of his muscles caused seizures and horrendous screams. Several months ago, a feeding tube was inserted. In May, he drifted into a coma from which he never awoke.

‘Twofold Feeling’

After he died, doctors at City of Hope removed his brain, which will be examined to learn more about the two diseases.

“It’s such a twofold feeling,” said Barry Haney, who manages the vehicles in KNBC-TV’s fleet. “I’m happy that hopefully he’s not suffering any more. But it’s a tremendous loss. It’s hard to visualize that it’s over.”