Class abuzz with support

Heavy cancer treatment is known for causing hair loss, and Tommy Conforti was no exception. But his friends in school didn’t want him to feel alone, so a group of Newport Elementary fifth-graders got together and submitted to the clippers.

Over a single weekend, more than 20 of his classmates went out and got buzz cuts, which they called a way to make him feel more comfortable while enduring tough medical treatment.

Tommy, 10, moved to the U.S. this year, and he just started at Newport Elementary in September. He has fought leukemia for years, but was finally able to come off chemotherapy in October.

Then the worst happened, mother Katherine Huddleston said: relapse. The day before Thanksgiving, doctors found more cancer in his optic nerve. It’s a hard time, but isolation would make it far worse for a kid like Tommy, she said.

“He’s a social animal,” Huddleston said. “To be with his friends is what makes him happiest.”

It all started with David Fisher, 10, a classmate of Tommy’s who lives on his same block. He befriended the newcomer fast, and when he fell ill, David decided to do something to make him feel more at home: buzz his hair in time for when Tommy would next visit school.

He knew his ailing friend was going to campus on Monday in time for a school visit from Santa Claus, so the kids had to act quickly.

“He’s a great friend, and I wanted to do something nice for him,” he said. “He’s got a really good attitude, and when we play games he doesn’t care if he’s winning or losing.”

David’s mother, Jennifer Balalis, said she called another mother with sons in the school, and soon they were sending group e-mails to everyone in the grade. The group soon snowballed to more than a dozen. It’s even more impressive that they did this so fast for someone new to the school, she said.

“He’s new to the area,” Balalis said. “Most of these kids have known each other since kindergarten. But here’s a child here for three months, also sick, and they do all of this on their own. Needless to say, I’m a very proud mom right now.”

Tommy was beaming and laughing with those school friends at a get-together after school at the beach Friday, but said his first reaction was far more emotional.

When a cellphone message came through showing three friends with newly buzzed scalps, one thing happened to Tommy: “Tears.”

“It’s amazing that I’ve got friends like this here,” he said.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes.com.