To the 80 students who shaved their heads, it was just hair, but to 9-year-old Marlee Pack, it’s her life.
Little Marlee, with her head shaved, was returning back to her elementary school in Broomfield, Colorado half-heartedly.
Her reason of going hairless was not any fashion or style statement, but a medical condition called Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS)—a type of cancer that develops from connective tissues, like muscles, in the body. Imagine the stress and anxiety a child would undergo in such a situation. But she was unaware of the surprise that life has in store for her.
Her best friend, Cameron McLaughlin, decided to donate a portion of her long, curly locks in an effort to support Marlee. But guess what, this sweet bestie didn’t feel that giving a portion was hair was just enough—so she went a step ahead to shave her entire head.
“When Cameron told Marlee she was thinking about shaving her head, Marlee got a huge smile on her face and said ‘we can be baldy besties together!'” Cheray McLaughlin, Cameron’s mom, told TODAY.com.
Cameron’s idea blossomed into a school-wide event on March 16 called “Be Bold, Be Brave, Go Bald,” where 80 students, three female teachers, both male principals and even a student’s mom got their heads shaved.
“I didn’t think that many people would shave their heads, but I feel good about going back to school and not being the only bald one,” Marlee told TODAY.com.
The event surely helped in uplifting the kid’s morale, who was enduring not only physically due to her ailment but also psychologically.
“We thought, what if we asked people to donate their hair or shave their head to raise money for a good cause?” McLaughlin said.
With this beautiful idea in her mind, McLaughlin teamed up with teacher Jody Hempelmann, who came up with the plan to raise funds for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization that supports childhood cancer research. Her husband Chris has been donating his hair to the foundation for a few years in honor of his coworkers son.
Their endeavor ended up raising over $25,000. To make this amazing cause fruitful eight stylists offered their services during the event. People who volunteered to donate hair than having a full head-shave were invited to drop by Salon Toujours Belle after school.
Although the stylists were doing most of the shaving, Marlee got the opportunity to shave the head of her first grade teacher, Erin Dupper, which she found very exciting.
“I feel very connected to Marlee and wanted to do something to show her how much I care, so I thought shaving my head seemed like an easy thing to do,” Dupper told TODAY.com.
Marlee was there for Cameron for moral support and held her hand the whole time she was getting her head shaved. “It’s OK to cry,” Marlee assured her.
“The kids getting to see Marlee upbeat, happy and brave instead of the sick girl they were imagining made it a celebration,” Dupper said.
Marlee’s mom, Shelly Pack, has seen her daughter come out of her shell since the diagnosis.
“She’s been through so much in the past year, I think she just faces life head on now,” Pack told TODAY.com. “This event only made her even more outgoing, confident and happy and as her mom, it’s refreshing to see.”