- LOS ANGELES: She is wowing fans on the reality TV contest "Dancing With the Stars" but behind the scenes this week, singer and actress Brandy has been in a more important competition.
She is racing against time to help save the life of a teenager who needs a heart transplant. Brandy, who gained fame as chart topping R&B singer and actress on the TV show "Moesha," has been raising awareness and money for 16-year-old Jessica Harris, who suffers from a congenital heart defect. Known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the condition can be fatal. "I just want to do whatever I can to get her story out there in the public," Brandy said.
"You hear a lot of stories like these, but this one just connected to me." Harris lives McComb, Mississippi, where Brandy Norwood was raised before she went to Hollywood and became the big star known simply by her first name.
Brandy's family told her of a story the local paper wrote about Harris needing a heart transplant that, on average, costs $150,000. But Harris is currently uncovered by insurance because the policy through her father's new job doesn't allow dependents with pre-existing conditions until July 2011. Harris has been told by doctors she may not live that long.



