Shear determination: Councilman, others shave head for pediatric cancer

Nearly a dozen people struck back at pediatric cancer by offering up their hair in downtown Redwood City Saturday.

But while some of the shavees said the commitment gave them a momentary pause, their resolution pales compared to the willpower and drive of the children battling the disease and the ones who love them.

"As a parent, I can’t imagine anything worse than losing a child and I think it is a lot harder dealing with cancer for a child than for an adult,” said Redwood City Councilman Ian Bain who traded in his hair —albeit a short style — for a smooth scalp.

Bain and the others gathered Saturday morning in Courthouse Square near The Daily Boost to say good-bye to their locks and hello to money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The event included crafts, a raffle, an auction and even a stop by the fire department. But the shaving was the mane, er, main attraction.

As of Friday, no women were ready to join in a full shearing but a few were cutting their locks for donation to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients, said co-organizer Nadine Moreno.

Moreno, too, held onto her hair but her husband and two young sons were shavees. Her oldest son, now 3 and a half, provided some of Moreno’s impetus for organizing Saturday’s event.

Little more than a year ago, he underwent a battery of tests for symptoms doctors worried could be leukemia. Thankfully, cancer was ruled out but Moreno remembers how she felt — and how different the outcome could have been.

"I thought I have to do something for the moms who got the news that I was dreading,” she said.

Moreno’s mom also passed away from cancer five years ago although she had promised to volunteer if she beat the disease. The St. Baldrick’s shaving event was a way to honor both, Moreno said.

St. Baldrick is actually a fictional character, a combination of "bald” and "St. Patrick,” created by two friends in 2000 who turned their industry St. Patrick’s Day party into a pediatric cancer benefit. In the decade since, shaving events have sprung up in 48 states and overseas, with more than $50 million raised for research.

Moreno hopes the combination of shaving, auction and raffle brings in between $10,000 and $15,000. As of Friday, more than $2,700 was raised.

As with Moreno, much of the participants’ motivation came from personal connection. Bain, who last shaved his head 20 years ago for "fun and shock value,” remembered as a child knowing a girl whose sister passed away from cancer.

If those type of stories were not enough, the specific children honored by Saturday’s event had their own.

Cynthia, 16, has a love of art projects, friends and movies. She also has a tumor which was diagnosed last September. She expects to finish her treatment this month and go home to Livermore where she can hang out with her 9-year-old brother, Brian.

Ten-year-old Ariel Rose of Pleasant Hill has rhabdomyosarcoma but her biography is fuller than her diagnosis: A wicked and contagious laugh, a love of Harry Potter and feisty Disney princesses that are "cool enough to carry a sword and fight for what they want.” She loves swimming, video games, drawing, reading and music.

In 2001, at age 5, Tino of Sacramento was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma or cancer of the nervous system. Aggressive therapy and surgery fought the tumors wrapped around his organs and infecting his bone marrow. Tino, 13, is now cancer-free seven years after his stem cell transplant and busy playing rugby, baseball and his electric guitar.

Harrison, of San Leandro, loved to laugh and play, enjoyed dinosaurs, trains and race cars. During treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia, he would pull himself out of bed with an IV pole trailing behind while he played in the hallways. Harrison passed away.

Sofia, 9, also has AML and is being treated at Stanford. She’s had three years of chemotherapy and three straight weeks of radiation but the leukemia has spread to her lymph nodes.

Brittney, a 19-year-old from Hayward, is in remission for ovarian cancer. But she doesn’t focus on that when describing herself — " I love to laugh and have fun. I love to play on my computer, dance, beads, scrap booking, listening to music, making movies with friends and family, love to laugh and have fun!”

Madison, a 21-year-old from Burlingame, rounds out the group. She is currently cancer-free after battling neuroblastoma and attending Chapman University as a biology major. She is uncertain what her future holds but thinks it could involve cancer research.

Moreno picked these children either because of their proximity to Redwood City or their particular stories.

All of them, she said, are reasons to care.

Moreno is relatively new to Redwood City but, using a self-proclaimed overachieving streak and word of mouth, signed up 10 shavees including Bain. The entire council got the offer to participate, Bain said, but only he was ready to take the plunge.

While Bain was immediately touched by the stories on the St. Baldrick’s Web site, he admitted hesitating a bit about shaving his head. His loved ones were supportive, however, and the winter season is over, although the recent cooling trend didn’t go unnoticed.

"I wish it were a little bit warmer. I may be wearing a wool cap over the weekend,” Bain said.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation can be reached at (888) 899-BALD (2253) or www.stbaldricks.org

About St. Baldricks and pediatric cancer:

• Worldwide, 160,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer each year

• Childhood cancer kills more U.S. children than any other disease — more than AIDS, asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and congenital anomalies combined.

• Between 2000 and 2008, more than 73,000 people, including more than 5,200 women, have shaved their heads at a St. Baldrick’s event.

• The 2009 goal is to raise $20 million with 35,000 shavees.