March is the defining month for St Baldrick’s. It commemorates the birth of a foundation that was established to conquer childhood cancer. And as of late, day after day I hear of head shaving events that are being hosted around the country – in fact, across the globe!
I have been blessed having attended a few of these events during my travels. Most recently, while in Texas I was present at an event in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas and had the pleasure of seeing over 200 heads shaved and over $200,000 raised. It is virtually impossible to articulate what these experiences are like. My best attempt was a response I gave to Andy Justice, a coordinator of the Dallas event, when he so aptly commented: “What an amazing experience it must be to attend all of these different events”. My reply was simple: “It never gets old”.
At Andy’s event, I was witness to the shaving of Dr. Naomi Winick, a pediatric oncologist from Children’s Hospital in Dallas. What made this head shaving particularly poignant was that Dr. Winick was shorn by a 28 year old woman who, at the tender age of 6, was treated for cancer by Dr. Winick! A 22 year survivor! But before one could revel in the awesome news of her amazing recovery, another woman stepped upon the stage to shave the good doctor’s head; this lady was the mother of a child, another patient of Dr. Winick’s, who was lost to cancer just a few weeks back.
These women are the not-so-subtle reminders as to why funding for pediatric cancer research is so necessary and why close to 60,000 people have shaved their heads to date to support this worthy cause.
View pictures from the recent events:
Dell Children’s Clinic: March 15th, Austin Texas
Mad Dog’s Pub: March 15th, San Antonio Texas
Trinity Hall: March 28th Dallas, Texas
