Hair is such a big part of a person’s life, it can determine whether they feel strong, beautiful, feminine, masculine or in control. We all know people who have the most glorious manes of hair – who spend hours every week keeping it beautiful and perfectly manicured.
Then we have friends with beautiful pixie crops, with long blonde hair, with bangs, with undercuts, with hair down to their butts, with graduated bobs, with grey hair, with red hair, with black hair – hair up in buns, hair in braids, hair slicked back – your hair says so much about you.
Hair is such a big part of identity. So what happens when due to some horrifically bad luck, that that part of your identity is taken away? When one of your weapons to feel you is gone?
In March, the iconic Australian fundraising campaign World’s Greatest Shave will be celebrating its 20th birthday and to commemorate this milestone, the Leukaemia Foundation is calling on record numbers of Australians to register and join in the fun.
X-Press writer Lara Fox is among those taking part.
“A lack of hair has long been a sign of someone fighting the fight of their lives,” Fox says. “People with no hair are instantly marked as people trying to survive. Other people shaving their heads shows they are standing in solidarity and support of those people, standing with research and science and standing up against cancer.”
Over the past two decades, more than 1.9 million Australians have supported the campaign to help the Leukaemia Foundation’s continue its vision to cure and mission to care. Thanks to those extraordinary Aussies, blood cancer patients and their families continue to receive free emotional and practical support, educational resources and transport to and from vital medical appointments from the Leukaemia Foundation.
“That is why I am taking away the luxury of my hair,” says Fox. “It is just one very little thing I can do to help make all those who have had to lose their hair through cancer treatment feel a little less alone.”
Every day, another 35 Aussies are diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukaemia, myeloma and lymphoma. Your support also means regional families continue to be provided with free home-away-from-home accommodation near their treating centres.
Register today to be part of the World’s Greatest Shave’s 20th birthday at www.worldsgreatestshave.com
