Why I had my head shaved in the middle of a shopping mall
It started with a strangely comforting buzz, then a warm sensation as something vibrated along the right side of my scalp.
Even without my glasses, I could see wisps of hair dropping to the ground.
Two minutes later, I was without significant biological covering on my scalp for the first time since I was two months old.
But I wasn’t the only one. There were 51 other similarly undercoiffed people in central hall in Place Alexis Nihon at lunch hour Thursday who had taken part in this year’s Leucan Shaved Head Challenge. The annual initiative raises money to support children with cancer and their families.
I was part of a team from the Montreal Gazette: Stéphane Le Gal, our regional vice-president of advertising, and advertising colleagues Sean Duckett, Angelo Pacitto and Eric Tobon, along with team captain Stephanie Presta. I am not sure why they decided to take up the challenge. I know why I did.
Like you, I have seen cancer take away dozens of friends and family members. I have sobbed at too many funerals, lain awake too many nights paralyzed by the thought that the person I love most in the world might not win his battle against the disease.
People who are dear to me are fighting now to conquer what is the leading cause of death in Canada, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. About two in five of us will develop cancer in our lifetime. One in four of us will die of the disease, the society says.
Researchers and the healthcare system are working hard to combat cancer. Fundraising efforts such as Leucan — whose goal is to raise $4.5 million this year — help.
That’s why I shaved my head. It feels good to do something.
The Montreal Gazette team raised $7,506 in the Leucan Shaved Head Challenge. The initiative continues through October.