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World’s Greatest Shave – Joanne Etherton

‘It’s a lot lighter than it was before, it’s also a lot colder’.

Earlier this year, before lockdown happened, Joanne Etherton had all her beautiful long hair shaved off for a great cause. The Year 12 student had no hesitation to participate in the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave.

World’s Greatest Shave is an annual fundraising event from the Leukaemia Foundation that aims to raise money to support and empower families impacted by blood cancer and to accelerate blood cancer research.

Today in Australia, blood cancer is a big problem. It’s one of the top four most frequently diagnosed cancers and is one of the leading causes of death by cancer in our country.

Every day another 41 Australians are told they have blood cancer (that’s one person every 36 minutes) and sadly 20 people will lose their life to blood cancer daily.

Joanne said how her motivation to participate was propelled by all the experience she and her family had with Cancer. ‘To shave my hair off is a very small price to pay. It goes to such a great cause’.

The funds raised help make sure families facing blood cancer have a place to call home during treatment, someone to turn to, and access to the best possible care and treatment.

Money raised also help fund Australia’s best and brightest researchers in their quest to deliver rapid advancements in diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately a cure.

The long hair cut off participants like Joanne, is used to make wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair through treatment. The smaller shaved portions are used to make ‘floating booms’ which help soak up oil spills in the ocean.

Joanne worked hard for 200 days to gain support and donations, resulting in a terrific $1075 raised for the charity.

On the 22nd March, the day when her hair was shaven off, Joanne said she felt a little nervous and her hands were shaking.

Joanne encourages others to consider participating next year, ‘It’s a great cause and you don’t have to shave your hair off. You can now colour it as well.’

Well done Joanne, the College is so proud of your commitment.

For more information, head over to https://worldsgreatestshave.com/