With the main ‘shave week’ for World’s Greatest Shave kicking off this week on the 10th, the Leukaemia Foundation has its sights firmly set on raising $15 million to continue to provide vital support for the growing number of Australians diagnosed with blood cancer.
In a Leukaemia Foundation first, new CEO Chris Tanti has stepped up to stand with all Australian families affected by blood cancer, including leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood-related disorders, by fundraising and shaving his head.
Mr Tanti has been in the job just over a month and was keen to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, as he joined the fight against blood cancer to be among those bravely shaving this year.
Mr Tanti had his head shaved at the Leukaemia Foundation ESA Village in Dutton Park on Tuesday by a blood cancer survivor, Jennifer Neil, who was diagnosed at age 28 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) - a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
Jennifer was supported by the Leukaemia Foundation through her journey with blood cancer and when reflecting on her diagnosis in a recent interview with the Foundation, Jennifer said:
“The cancer community is full of empathetic, like-minded individuals and carers who know the struggle and who can offer their own experience or an ear to listen. It’s full of people who have been given another chance to enjoy the beauty this world has to offer, and they appreciate every moment of it. They’re willing to drop their plans to be with you if you need advice or someone to just sit with you.”
10,000 extraordinary people just like Mr Tanti are taking action this week to bravely sacrifice their hair to help people like Jennifer and to cure and conquer blood cancer.
The special shave event was exclusively attended by Channel 10 Brisbane news crew with the story being shared nationally across the Channel 10 network that evening.
To celebrate the CEO’s shave, the Leukaemia Foundation produced a video featuring Jennifer’s treatment journey and capturing Mr Tanti’s haircut transformation. You can view the video here on either Facebook or Instagram.
