Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Southaven couple is remembering their late infant daughter with a memorial scholarship in Mississippi State University's College of Education.
Robbie and Emily Hayes are graduates of the college. He is an assistant attorney and city prosecutor for the northern DeSoto County municipality, while his wife works in pharmaceutical sales.
Their daughter, Emma Grace, was born six weeks premature in March at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women in Memphis, Tenn. In addition to weighing only slightly more than four pounds, she was diagnosed with Downs syndrome and a related congenital heart defect.
"We were told that Emma Grace would face open heart surgery sometime prior to her four-month birthday," Robbie Hayes recalled recently. "The doctors informed us that 95 percent of heart surgeries like Emma Grace's are successful and there are no further heart complications."
At about six weeks, Emma Grace was transferred to Memphis Le Bonheur Children's Hospital to await July surgery at Vanderbilt Children's Medical Center in Nashville. Sadly, she died July 20 from pre-surgical complications.
"We won't know if Emma Grace ever would have gone to college, but we feel we will achieve satisfaction by knowing that other children can grow up and benefit from her life," Robbie Hayes explained.
A native of Liberty, he received bachelor's and master's degrees in 1992 and 1996, respectively. After playing outfield with the MSU Bulldog baseball team during the 1991 and 1992 seasons, he served as a student assistant coach the following year. He later graduated from Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson.
A Malden, Mo., native who first met Robbie while both were MSU students, the former Emily Turner received a bachelor's degree in 1996 and a master's in 1997.
Candidates for the Emma Grace Hayes Memorial Scholarship must be full-time students who have completed at least 30 semester hours toward a degree in special education, among other requirements.
Hayes Scholars also will be required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of volunteer service with special-need children at schools, day care centers or other non-profit organizations.
"We are working toward building an endowment for our scholarship at Mississippi State because we want Emma Grace to always be remembered," Emily Hayes said. "Although she faced many challenges in her short life, she touched the lives of countless individuals and was a light to her family."
Former residents of Madison, the Hayes also are the parents of Rob, age 3.
The Hayes Memorial Scholarship is an open fund in the MSU Foundation that may be increased through additional gifts. Contributions may be made online via www.msufoundation.com or by mail to P.O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762. For more information, contact Rob Jenkins, the college's development director, at 662-325-6762 or rjenkins@colled.msstate.edu.
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MISSISSIPPI/MISSOURI EDITORS: Robbie Hayes' parents are Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Hayes of Liberty; his grandmother, Mrs. R.B. Schaffer of Mantee. Emily Hayes is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Bill Turner of Malden; her grandmother, Mrs. Harry Turner of Lilbourn.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.