Point Cartwright teenager Felicity Yeates is ready to lose her long locks next month, when she takes part in the World’s Greatest Shave for the Leukemia Foundation.
The 17-year-old will honour her late grandmother and contribute to a great cause on March 5, alongside several schoolmates at Immanuel Lutheran College.
“I’m quite excited to do it,” she said.
“I have quite thick hair which can be hard to deal with and I’m really excited to see what it looks like and to experience it.
“I take two hours straightening my hair, so it does take a bit of time out my day.”
Felicity decided to lose her hair for charity after her grandmother Maureen Horrigan died last year after a battle with cancer.
They had a close relationship.
“We moved to the Coast (from Brisbane) to be near her after she was diagnosed,” Felicity said.
“We went to her house every afternoon. She was an English teacher so she helped us do our study and would check on us.
“When we could leave the house, we’d walk her two little dogs to Point Cartwright and back.”
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Felicity’s mum Amanda Yeates said she it was heart-warming to see her daughter prepared to shave her long hair.
“I’m unbelievably proud,” she said.
“It’s a huge thing for her to do. She’s got very long, thick hair at the moment and one of the things we were certainly aware of when mum was unwell is how much your hair is a part of your identity and self-image and how you feel about yourself, and how difficult it is when people are going through cancer treatment, because a lot of that identity is lost.
“So, it’s a really brave thing she’s doing.”
Amanda said cancer could strike at any moment.
“My mum was a really healthy fit woman. She was running about 10km a day,” she said.
“Then one day she said to me she felt a bit off and I said ‘look after yourself mum’ and she said she’ll only run 5km that day.
“The next day she was diagnosed with a grade 4 brain tumour.
“So, it struck someone who is incredibly fit and healthy, which really shook us.
“She was operated on successfully and we sort of asked ‘is that it?’.
“They (doctors) said no, because brain tumours come back.
“They said to enjoy the next six months and really celebrate if she made it to 12 months.
“So, it was a bit of a miracle really to have lasted the 12 years she did.”
Maureen was 73 when she died after battling a brain tumour, lymphoma and pancreatic cancer.
Every year, more than 17,000 Australians are diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
And each year there are about 20,000 participants in the World’s Greatest Shave, who shave, cut or colour their hair.
Funds raised provide families facing blood cancer with the special care they need and help research scientists continue their search for better ways to diagnose and treat blood cancer more effectively.
Hair can be recycled into wigs and made into ‘hair brooms’ to soak up oil spills.
There will several schoolchildren involved in the fundraising event on March 5.
“I’ve got quite a lot of support from girls who are cutting their hair and one or two guys are shaving their head, so it’s really good,” Felicity said.
“We’ve got a big event planned and all the money goes to the Leukemia Foundation.”
For more information check out www.worldsgreatestshave.com and to support Felicity go to http://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=798323&Referrer=direct%2Fnone
