You could call it a hair-raising ordeal to sit in a chair in front of a crowd of people, right before a hairdresser razes your hair “down to the wood” as they say.
Still, several brave souls with fuchsia-coloured locks endured just that as they made Save-On Foods at Village Landing the location of their collective premature baldness last Wednesday afternoon.
Of course it was all in support of the Hair Massacure, now in its tenth year. The annual event is organized by Tammy MacDonald and her family from Morinville. Tammy's daughter, Kali inspired the event after she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was only two years old. She has now been in remission for several years and was present at the grocery store with the trademark ‘Kali' pink streak in her hair.
The Hair Massacure encourages people to shave their heads to demonstrate their solidarity with those who have gone bald because of chemotherapy as part of their own cancer treatments. Before that happens, participants can dye their hair in the shocking fluorescent colour to further add to that sense of group identity as well as to garner much public attention.
Last year, Mary Tuck wanted to get involved too. The office manager at this Save-On Foods location decided – albeit at the last minute – to take the plunge. Even with only a few days of fundraising, she still managed to bring in around $1,500.
“I'm happy to do my part,” she admitted. “Maybe I'll do it again next year.”
As Tuck watched from the sidelines, Camille King took the chair while the electric razor did its dirty work. First with an expression of shock that was quickly followed by a hearty smile, she explained that she too was very happy to be involved.
“I feel so much gratitude,” she began, explaining that she and her four children all enjoy excellent health and hope that never changes.
Even so, she said that losing your hair doesn't diminish the weight of your character.
“Your beauty is within you. It's not attached to your hair.”
Provincial organizers expect to reach $1 million in donations again for the third year in a row. After Saturday's huge massacure at West Edmonton Mall that saw more than 1,500 people have their heads shaved, a final tally won't be available until the spring. Over the last nine years, however, almost $4.8 million has been raised to help children with life-threatening illnesses. The proceeds go to support pediatric oncology at the Stollery Children's Hospital, as well as both the northern Alberta chapters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Ronald McDonald House.
Store manager Dean Nazaruk elaborated on why his store is now one of the places where the Hair Massacure has taken hold.
“It's an important local cause for us. The team has taken it on and run with it!”
