Teen willing to lose hair in the battle

AFTER LOSING it all to chemotherapy, it took more than four months for leukemia survivor Petey Miceli to get his hair back.

The 13-year-old Queens boy loves his new locks — which grew back darker than before — but he’s willing to lose them all over again if he can raise money for cancer research.

“I like my hair,” said Petey. “But I want . . . all the kids (with cancer) to know that I’m still there with them.”

Petey (photo) was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2011, when he was 7.

After battling his leukemia for more than four years, the teen with dreams of being a chef will be officially declared a cancer survivor Tuesday, after a final blood test.

First, Petey will happily be shorn again, along with his father, Lt. Pete Miceli, and scores of other firefighters and supporters at Engine 313/Ladder 164 on 244th St. in Little Neck, Queens, starting at 6 a.m. on Monday.

Money raised from the event will benefit the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which funds childhood cancer research.

The eighth-grader at Our Lady of Hope school in Middle Village says he’s well on his way to his goal of raising $8,173 — which corresponds with his birthday, Aug. 17, 2003.

When his son’s hair started falling out in clumps after his chemotherapy treatments, Miceli shaved his son’s head, then had his own head shaved in solidarity.

“I let him shave my head that night,” Miceli, 47, said. “It’s one of those things that’s tough for any family member to go through. I didn’t want him to go through it alone.”

When he grows up, Petey hopes to be a celebrity chef and “give a lot of money” to the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, which treated him. Until then, he’s raising money shaving his head — because he knows what other children suffering from cancer are going through. And, thankfully, his hair will grow back better than before, he said.

Anyone wishing to donate to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation can do so by visiting its website at www.stbaldricks.org.